Utility of an immunization registry in a pediatric emergency department.

OBJECTIVES: Determine prevalence of participation and underimmunization rate in a regional immunization registry (IR) among patients presenting to a university pediatric emergency department (PED). Rate of agreement between parental report and documented immunization status was also measured. METHODS: A convenience sample of parents of patients younger than 11 years registered in the PED were approached with a short questionnaire. When informed consent was obtained- the Central New York (CNY) IR was accessed via computer to see if the child was in the registry and to ascertain if their immunizations were up-to-date (UTD). Rate of agreement between parental report and immunization status documented in the IR was calculated. RESULTS: 698 (97%) of 720 patients consented to participate. Of these- 235 (34%- 95% CI- 30-37) were enrolled in the IR. Eighty-five (36%- 95% CI- 30-42) enrolled patients were under age 2. Sixty-seven (29%- 95% CI- 23-34) were from private group practices- 146 (62%- 95% CI- 56-68) were fro