Vaccination Coverage of Privately Insured Children: Comparing U.S. Survey and Administrative Data

National Immunization Survey-Child data are used widely to assess childhood vaccination coverage in the U.S. This study compares National Immunization Survey-Child coverage estimates with estimates using other supplementary data sources.

Retrospective analyses in 2021 assessed vaccination coverage of privately insured children for vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices by age 2 years, using the 2015-2018 MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters databases and the 2018-2019 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set. The coverage estimates were compared statistically with those using the 2016-2018 National Immunization Survey-Child.

Estimated coverage ranged from 69.9% (≥2 doses of influenza vaccine) to 95.0% (≥3 doses of diphtheria, tetanus toxoids, and acellular pertussis vaccine) using the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters data and from 68.0% (≥2 doses of influenza vaccine) to 92.2% (≥1 dose of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine) using the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set. The difference between the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and National Immunization Survey-Child estimates ranged from 0.1 to 4.3 percentage points and was statistically significant for 6 of the 13 assessed vaccines/doses and percentage of children receiving no vaccinations. The difference between the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set and National Immunization Survey-Child estimates ranged from 0.4 to 7.2 percentage points and was statistically significant for 6 of the 10 assessed vaccines/doses.

For certain vaccines and populations of interest, the National Immunization Survey-Child, MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters, and Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set data might give comparable coverage of privately insured children.