Supplier
CDC/NCIRD
Years Available
1995 to present
Periodicity
Annual
Mode of Collection
Sample survey: telephone interview (cell only) to parent or guardian of a child 19-35 months followed by a mailed questionnaire to child's immunization providers.
Description
The National Immunization Surveys (NIS) are a group of telephone surveys used to monitor vaccination coverage among children and teens. The surveys are sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (CDC, NCIRD) and conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). The NIS-Child is a random-digit-dialing telephone survey of parents or guardians of children ages 19 to 35 months, followed by a mailed survey to the children's immunization providers. Data from the NIS-Child are used to produce current, population-based, state and local area estimates of vaccination coverage for all childhood vaccinations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Children are classified as being up to date based on the ACIP-recommended numbers of doses for each vaccine.
Selected Content
Coverage among children ages 19 to 35 months for the following routine childhood vaccines: diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP/DT/DTP); poliovirus vaccine (Polio); measles or measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR); haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib); hepatitis B vaccine (HepB); varicella zoster (chickenpox) vaccine (VAR); pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV); rotavirus vaccine (ROT); hepatitis A vaccine (HepA); and influenza vaccine (Flu).
Population Covered
The target population for the NIS-Child is children between the ages of 19 and 35 months living in the United States at the time of the interview.
Methodology
The NIS-Child collects data through telephone interviews with parents or guardians of children ages 19 to 35 months in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, selected local areas and territories. Cell phone numbers are randomly selected and called to enroll one or more age-eligible children from the household. The parents and guardians of eligible children are asked during the interview for the names of their children's vaccination providers and permission to contact them. With this permission, a questionnaire is mailed to each child's vaccination provider(s) to collect the information on the types of vaccinations, number of doses, dates of administration, and other administrative data about the health care facility. NIS-Child coverage estimates are based on a provider-reported vaccination history; data from responding providers are combined to create a synthesized vaccination history for each child. Estimates of vaccination coverage are determined for those vaccinations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Children are classified as being up to date based on the ACIP- recommended numbers of doses for each vaccine. In 2018, the NIS-Child began using a single-frame sample of cell phone lines. The landline telephone-sample frame that was used from 2006 to 2017 was dropped because of the declining number of landline-only households in the United States. Data are weighted and analyzed to account for the sampling design.
Response Rates and Sample Size
In 2018, completed telephone interviews were obtained for 28,971 children ages 19 to 35 months (70.3%). Vaccination coverage estimates were available for 15,657 children with adequate provider data (54.0% of those with completed interviews).
References
National Immunization Survey – Child: Data Users Guide for the 2018 Public-Use Data File.
