Original ArticlesImmunization recall: Effectiveness and barriers to success in an urban teaching clinic☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Methods
The study was conducted from January through July 1999 in the outpatient pediatric clinic at The Children’s Hospital, an urban teaching hospital in Denver, Colorado. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board. The clinic serves primarily low-income families, of whom 63% are covered by Medicaid or a state-subsidized insurance program, 21% have commercial insurance, and 16% are uninsured. The clinic population is highly transient, with at least 50% of families
Results
The intervention and control groups were similar with respect to demographic and utilization variables (Table I).Variable Intervention group (n = 292) Control group (n = 304) P value Race/ethnic group [No. (%)] African American 28 (13) 29 (13) White 44 (20) 44 (20) Hispanic 70 (32) 64 (28) Unknown 66 (30) 81 (36) Other 10 (5) 7 (3) .69 Sex [No. (%)] F 98 (48) 105 (48) .99 Mean age in months (SD) 11.7 (3.0) 11.8 (3.1) .77 Proportion with well-child visits at TCH [No. (%)] 226 (77) 233 (77) .83
Discussion
Recall of children not UTD with immunizations has been shown to increase immunization rates in a number of studies3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and can have ancillary benefits of increasing health supervision visits and screening rates.3 On the basis of such data, the 1993 Standards for Immunization Practice and a 1999 consensus statement by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee recommend that all immunization providers should operate recall and reminder systems.1, 22 Attempts to carry out this
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Cited by (0)
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Supported by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Reprint requests: Allison Kempe, MD, MPH, The Children’s Hospital, 1056 E 19th Ave, B032, Denver, CO 80218.