Level of Recall Bias Regarding Pneumococcal Vaccination History among Adults Hospitalized with Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Results from the University of Louisville Pneumonia Study

Authors

Sarah Van Heiden, University of LouisvilleFollow
Ruth Carrico, University of LouisvilleFollow
Timothy L. Wiemken, University of LouisvilleFollow
Ronika Alexander, Pfizer, Inc.Follow
John M. McLaughlin, Pfizer, Inc.Follow
Qin Jiang, Pfizer, Inc.Follow
Paula Peyrani, University of LouisvilleFollow
William A. Mattingly, University of LouisvilleFollow
Stephen P. Furmanek, University of LouisvilleFollow
Connor L. English, University of Louisville, Louisville, KYFollow
Senen Pena, University of LouisvilleFollow
Raul Isturiz, Pfizer, Inc.Follow
Julio A. Ramirez, University of LouisvilleFollow

Funder

Pfizer, Inc.

Abstract

Background: Recall bias is likely to occur in vaccine effectiveness studies using self-reported vaccination history. The validity of patient-reported vaccination status for adults is not well defined. The objective of this study was to evaluate the validity of self-reported pneumococcal vaccination history among patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: Prospective ancillary study of a population-based observational study of hospitalized patients with CAP in the city of Louisville. To be included in the analysis, patients had to (i) be reached by phone 30-days after discharge from the hospital and (ii) report that they remembered whether or not they received a pneumococcal vaccine in the past five years. The vaccination history was classified as 1) Subjective: patient recollection, or 2) Objective: vaccination records from insurance companies or primary care physicians.

Results: A total of 2,787 patients who recalled their vaccination history were included in the analysis. Subjective vaccination history was documented to be inaccurate in 1,023 (37%) patients.

Conclusions: Our study indicates that in adult patients, self-reported data regarding pneumococcal vaccination is likely to be inaccurate in one out of three patients. This level of recall bias may incorporate a fatal flaw in vaccine effectiveness studies.

DOI

10.18297/jri/vol1/iss4/3

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Van Heiden, Sarah; Carrico, Ruth; Wiemken, Timothy L.; Alexander, Ronika; McLaughlin, John M.; Jiang, Qin; Peyrani, Paula; Mattingly, William A.; Furmanek, Stephen P.; English, Connor L.; Pena, Senen; Isturiz, Raul; and Ramirez, Julio A. (2017) "Level of Recall Bias Regarding Pneumococcal Vaccination History among Adults Hospitalized with Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Results from the University of Louisville Pneumonia Study," The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections: Vol. 1 : Iss. 4 , Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/jri/vol1/iss4/3
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jri/vol1/iss4/3