Accuracy of parent-reported measles-containing vaccination status of children with measles

•The validity of parent-reported measles-containing vaccination history in children with measles has not been assessed.•Parental recall slightly overestimated the measles vaccination rate in the children.•The vaccination status recalled by parents was in moderate agreement with the electronic record.

ObjectivesThe validity of parent-reported measles-containing vaccination history in children with measles has not been assessed. This study evaluated the accuracy of parental recall of measles-containing vaccination histories in Shenzhen, China.Study designA retrospective study was performed to compare the data from the electronic records with parental recall. The electronic records were regarded as accurate data about the children's measles-containing vaccination status.MethodsWe collected data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System and the Immunization Program Information Management System in Shenzhen city, China. Between 2009 and 2014, there were 163 children with measles who had electronic vaccination records; the vaccination status of these cases was reported by the parents in the field epidemiological investigation. We validated parental recall with electronic records.ResultsThe agreement between parental recall and electronic records was 78.7%. The kappa value was 0.57. The parent-reported measles-containing vaccination rate was higher than the electronic record (48.5% vs 41.7%, χ2 = 53.64, P < 0.001). The true positive rate for parental recall was 82.4%, and the true negative rate was 75.8%. The positive predictive value was 70.9%, and the negative predictive value was 76.6%.ConclusionsIn children with measles, parental recall slightly overestimated the measles vaccination rate, and the vaccination status recalled by parents was in moderate agreement with the electronic record.