Premium
Ranking states' immunization coverage: an example from the National Immunization Survey
Author(s) -
Barker Lawrence E.,
Smith Philip J.,
Gerzoff Robert B.,
Luman Elizabeth T.,
McCauley Mary M.,
Strine Tara W.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
statistics in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.996
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1097-0258
pISSN - 0277-6715
DOI - 10.1002/sim.2039
Subject(s) - immunization , ranking (information retrieval) , medicine , computer science , information retrieval , immunology , antibody
The National Immunization Survey (NIS) provides state‐level estimates of preschool immunization coverage. These coverages are frequently presented in ranked lists, and ranks are frequently over‐interpreted. In this paper, we highlight the difficulty in interpreting ranked point estimates. To demonstrate the uncertainty of ranks, parametric bootstrap methods were used to derive 90 per cent confidence intervals for ranks of state vaccination coverage levels among preschool children. We graphically compared states to a reference state. If NIS data are used to rank states, one should consider presenting confidence intervals for rank and the results of comparisons of one state with another graphically. Published in 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.