Immunization Activities of Private-Practice Physicians: A Record Audit

A record audit of the office immunization records of 13 private-practice Idaho physicians included 813 2-year-old children. Thirty-six percent had completed all the Public Health Service recommended immunizations for a 2-year-old child. Forty-four percent of the "active" patients (those seen by the physician within the previous 12 months) were complete as opposed to 8% of the "inactive" patients. In general, the children who received immunizations exclusively from their private physician were better immunized (38% complete) than those who received immunizations from both their private physicians and the health department clinics (22% complete). Despite the low percentage of overall completeness, the vaccine-specific immunization levels were at least as high as the levels computed from the National Immunization Survey. While the limitations of the study prevent application of the results to physicians in general, the data suggest that the inability to complete an immunization schedule, once begun, is a major weakness in the immunization activities of private-practice physicians.