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Immunization coverage among infants enrolled in the Tennessee Medicaid program
M R Griffin1, J Daugherty, G W Reed
1Department of Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
Insights
Fewer than half of infants on Tennessee Medicaid completed recommended vaccinations by 24 months. Factors like mother's prior births and timing of first immunization impacted completion rates for childhood vaccines.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Public Health Policy
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Infant immunization is critical for preventing childhood diseases.
- Medicaid enrollees often face barriers to healthcare access, potentially impacting vaccination rates.
- Understanding coverage gaps is essential for improving public health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess immunization coverage among infants enrolled in Tennessee Medicaid.
- To identify risk factors associated with incomplete vaccinations by 24 months of age.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of 33,615 infants enrolled in Medicaid in three Tennessee urban counties (1980-1989).
- Assessed receipt of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, oral polio, and measles-mumps-rubella vaccines by 24 months.
- Data sources included computerized county immunization records and Medicaid billing files.
Main Results:
- Overall, only 45% of infants completed recommended vaccinations by 24 months.
- Vaccination completion rates varied by county of birth (37%-63%) and decreased from 1982 (50%) to 1989 (44%).
- Key predictors of completion included fewer prior births for the mother, timely first immunization, and county of birth; maternal demographics showed weak associations.
Conclusions:
- Less than half of Tennessee Medicaid infants in the study completed recommended vaccinations by age two.
- Significant disparities in immunization levels between counties, unexplained by demographics, suggest systemic issues in healthcare delivery.
- Improving immunization coverage requires addressing health care and vaccine delivery system factors for this vulnerable population.
Objectives:
To determine immunization coverage of infants receiving Medicaid in Tennessee and to identify risk factors for failure to complete recommended vaccinations by 24 months of age.
Design:
Retrospective cohort study.
Subjects:
A total of 33,615 children born in one of three urban Tennessee counties from 1980 through 1989 who were enrolled in Medicaid throughout their first 24 months of life.
Main Outcome Measures:
Receipt of four diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, three oral polio, and one measles-mumps-rubella vaccines by 24 months of age (up-to-date), as recorded in computerized county immunization records and Medicaid billing files.
Results:
Overall, 45% of infants enrolled in Medicaid in the three urban counties completed the recommended vaccinations by 24 months. The proportion of infants up-to-date peaked at 50% for those born in 1982 and 1983, and decreased to 44% for those born in 1989. The only strong independent predictors of immunization completion were number of prior births for the mother, timing of the first immunization, and county of birth. The proportion up-to-date was 56% for first-born children compared with 27% for those whose mothers had at least three prior births; 55% for those whose first immunization was on time compared with 22% for those with a delay in the first immunization; and 63%, 52%, and 37% for infants born in the three respective counties. Maternal age, education, race, and marital status predicted immunization completeness only weakly or not at all.
Conclusions:
Of infants born in the three counties in the 1980s who were enrolled in the Tennessee Medicaid program, fewer than half completed their recommended childhood vaccinations by 24 months of age. The large differences in immunization levels between infants enrolled in the Medicaid program in the three counties, not accounted for by differences in demographics, suggest that factors related to the health care and vaccine delivery system have important effects on achieving adequate immunization of these infants.
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