Registros vacunales informatizados respecto a los tradicionales en papel: ¿aportan una mejor calidad?

Abstract

Background and objective The use of new technologies in the health sector is increasing which makes it necessary to ask if this is a truly beneficial trend. The aim of our study was to analyze possible differences in the quality of immunization records elaborated prior to and following their computerization. Methods Immunization records effectuated prior to and following their computerization were analyzed in order to compare the quality of the traditional, paper-based records versus newer, computerized records. Quality standards were established using Heijbel criteria and the 1 st, 5 th and 6 th dose of the Diphtheria-Tetanus vaccine (DT) were registered from each of the records. 120 patients from each group were randomly selected from three Community Healthcare Centres (CHCC) in Madrid. Differences between the paper-based and the computerized records were analyzed, as were differences between the different doses of DT administered and the different CHCC. Results Computerized records were shown to be of better quality than paper-based records, with a median (ICR) of 5 (5-8) for the paper-based records and 8 (7- 8) for computerized records with a difference between the medians (CI 95%) of 3 (3-3); p < 0.0001. Conclusions According to the results obtained in our study, computerization of immunization records has improved their quality as compared to traditional records. This improvement was observed for all three doses of DT. No differences between the CHCC were found with respect to the time of immunization, but this finding was inconclusive.