Background and objectives: Strategies to improve vaccination rates have been implemented with considerable benefits. The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of a supported general practice intervention to 'catch up' overdue children.
Method: Between 2017 and 2018, a public health nurse visited 23 general practices with high numbers of overdue children to assist staff identify and follow up truly overdue children. A comparison group consisted of a random sample of overdue children from other practices. The intervention was assessed by reviewing Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) records in 2019.
Results: Although the intervention group had a significantly higher proportion of children who had their AIR records corrected for vaccines administered prior to the initial practice visit, the intervention did not result in higher vaccination rates.
Discussion: Support to general practices can improve vaccination data on the AIR; however, simple reminders alone are unlikely to increase vaccination rates for truly overdue children.