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Missed opportunities for immunisation in children
A B Biswas1, N K Mitra, S Nandy
1Dept. of Comm. Medicine, R.G. Kar Medical College, Calcutta.
Insights
Missed immunisation opportunities in children are common, especially in paediatric outpatient departments. Addressing these missed chances is crucial for increasing vaccination coverage and controlling vaccine-preventable diseases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Sustaining high immunisation coverage is vital for eradicating poliomyelitis and controlling other vaccine-preventable diseases.
- Missed immunisation opportunities occur frequently across various healthcare settings, including teaching hospitals.
- Reducing missed immunisation opportunities is an cost-effective strategy to improve vaccination rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the problem of missed immunisation opportunities in children.
- To identify the underlying factors contributing to missed immunisation opportunities.
- To analyze missed immunisation opportunities in the Paediatric Outpatient Department and Immunisation Clinic of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Calcutta.
Main Methods:
- The study assessed the prevalence of missed immunisation opportunities.
- Data was collected from children attending the Paediatric Outpatient Department and Immunisation Clinic.
- Factors contributing to missed opportunities were analyzed.
Main Results:
- A significant prevalence of missed immunisation opportunities was observed, with 37.8% in the Paediatric Outpatient Department and 1.4% in the Immunisation Clinic.
- The majority of missed opportunities were linked to healthcare providers and the healthcare delivery system.
- Differences in missed opportunity rates were noted between the outpatient department and the dedicated immunisation clinic.
Conclusions:
- Healthcare providers and systemic issues are primary drivers of missed immunisation opportunities in children.
- Targeted interventions within healthcare systems are necessary to reduce missed immunisation opportunities.
- Improving immunisation coverage requires addressing the identified factors contributing to missed opportunities in clinical practice.
Abstract:
All opportunities for immunisation in children should be utilised properly, as sustaining high levels of full immunisation coverage is essential to meet the goal of eradication of poliomyelitis as well as control the other vaccine-preventable diseases; yet many opportunities for immunisation are missed in all types of health facilities, even in teaching hospitals. Reducing such missed opportunities is the cheapest way to increase immunisation coverage. The present study discusses the problem of missed opportunities for immunisation in children in Paediatric Outpatient Department and Immunisation Clinic of R.G. Kar Medical and Hospital, Calcutta and the underlying factors of the problem. Prevalence of missed opportunities in Paediatric OPD and Immunisation clinic was 37.8% and 1.4% respectively. Most of the missed opportunities were attributed to health care providers and delivery system of health care of the studied hospital.