Challenges to estimating vaccine impact using hospitalization data.

ABSTRACT: Because the real-world impact of new vaccines cannot be known before they are implemented in national programs, post-implementation studies at the population level are critical. Studies based on analysis of hospitalization rates of vaccine-preventable outcomes are typically used for this purpose. However, estimates of vaccine impact based on hospitalization data are particularly prone to confounding, as hospitalization rates are tightly linked to changes in the quality, access and use of the healthcare system, which often occur simultaneously with introduction of new vaccines. Here we illustrate how changes in healthcare delivery coincident with vaccine introduction can influence estimates of vaccine impact, using as an example reductions in infant pneumonia hospitalizations after introduc

SUBMITTER: Schuck-Paim C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5664940 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature