Deduplication of temporary names in an immunization registry using probabilistic linkage

Records with temporary names, such as Babygirl, BoyA, etc. are sometimes submitted to immunization information systems (IIS) with vaccinations that are administered before the child has a legal name.

To 1) apply probabilistic record linkage to assist in the deduplication of children with temporary names in an IIS and 2) assess the impact of that deduplication on vaccination coverage rates.

Cross-sectional study of vaccination records.

The Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR), Michigan's statewide, population-based IIS.

Records in MCIR with a temporary first name and date of birth between 1/1/2020 and 12/31/2023.

Percentage of temporary name records matched to legal name records, and the difference in both temporary name and statewide primary childhood vaccination series (i.e. 4:3:1:3:3:1:4 series) coverage among 19-35 month olds after reconciliation of these records.

Of the 16,806 temporary name records submitted to MCIR for births between 1/1/2020 and 12/31/2023, 9803 (58 %) were linked to a legal name record using probabilistic linkage. Among the subset of children aged 19-35 months who were assigned a temporary name at birth (n = 8548), 4:3:1:3:3:1:4 series completion coverage increased substantially, from 1.5 % to 39.6 % after reconciliation of vaccination histories. Statewide, 4:3:1:3:3:1:4 series coverage among children aged 19-35 months (n = 162,666) increased from 66.2 % to 68.2 % after reconciliation of vaccination histories.

Probabilistic linkage was found to be an effective method for identifying duplicate temporary name records in IIS.