Validity of self-reported vaccination status among French healthcare students

Pierre Loulergue (1, 2) , Céline Pulcini (3, 4, 5) , Sophie Massin (4, 6) , Marion Bernhard (4, 6) , Laure Fonteneau (7) , Daniel Levy-Bruhl (7) , Jean-Paul Guthmann (7) , Odile Launay (2, 1)

1 IMAGINE - U1163 - Imagine - Institut des maladies génétiques
2 CIC - Biotherapie - AP-HP (cochin - Pasteur)
3 CHU de Nice, Service d'Infectiologie
4 SESSTIM - U912 INSERM - Aix Marseille Univ - IRD - Sciences Economiques et Sociales de la Santé & Traitement de l'Information Médicale
5 UNS UFR Médecine - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - Faculté de Médecine
6 ORS PACA
7 Département des maladies infectieuses

Data on validity of self-reported vaccinations are scarce. This study, performed on healthcare students in Paris (France), aimed to evaluate this validity for occupational vaccinations. The validity of self-reported vaccination status was compared with written information. A total of 432 students were enrolled. Sensitivity rates for BCG, hepatitis B and measles were over 74%. For diphtheria-tetanus-polio and pertussis, sensitivity was below 50%. Specificity was between 70 and 95% for dTP-pertussis, and below 35% for all others. Overall, the validity of self-reported information was low, meaning that checking medical records remains the preferable strategy for assessing immunization status.

Mots clés: Healthcare students; occupational vaccination; sensitivity; specificity; validity

Domaines: Vaccinologie; Santé publique et épidémiologie

Pierre Loulergue, Céline Pulcini, Sophie Massin, Marion Bernhard, Laure Fonteneau, et al.. Validity of self-reported vaccination status among French healthcare students. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2014, 20 (12), ⟨10.1111/1469-0691.12759⟩. ⟨hal-01241627⟩