This study uses the 1991 Followback survey to the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey to describe maternal recall of immunizations and examine if maternal report of immunization receipt correlated with provider records. We examined frequencies of women who recalled an exact number of immunizations, those who failed to recall an exact number but reported on whether they were informed by medical personnel of their child’s status, and those who failed to recall either. All maternal responses were compared with data extracted from the Medical Provider Survey yielding a population of 6,161 mother/child dyads with immunization records. Although one-half of mothers could recall the number of DTP and Polio vaccinations their children received the overwhelming majority had children who were not age appropriately immunized (AAI) and provider records corroborated maternal report in a small percentage of cases. Significantly more often than not, provider records disagreed with maternal report. Nearly all mothers who could not recall the exact number reported being told their child was AAI. In actuality, however, only 3 mothers (<0.1%) had children who were up to date for DTP and 11 (0.2%) for polio. With respect to MMR, of the 91% of mothers who stated their children were inoculated, 41% were correct. Our findings suggest that mothers should take a more active role in ensuring their children are properly immunized and not rely on medical personnel to keep them informed of their children’s immunization status.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the learner (participant) will be able to:
Keywords: Immunizations, Maternal and Child Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.