Self-Reported SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Is Consistent with Electronic Health Record Data among the COVID-19 Community Research Partnership

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 7; p. 1016
• Main Authors: Tjaden, Ashley H., Fette, Lida M., Edelstein, Sharon L., Gibbs, Michael, Hinkelman, Amy N., Runyon, Michael, Santos, Roberto P., Weintraub, William S., Yukich, Joshua, Uschner, Diane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 24.06.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Adults; Agreements; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Data points; Dosage; Drug dosages; Electronic health records; Electronic medical records; Electronic surveillance; epidemiology; Ethnicity; Health surveillance; Immunization; Influenza; Medical research; Observational studies; Partnerships; Polls & surveys; Recall; SARS-CoV-2; Self report; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Surveys; Vaccination; Vaccine efficacy; Vaccines; United States > US; Baltimore Maryland
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10071016

Introduction: Observational studies of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effectiveness depend on accurate ascertainment of vaccination receipt, date, and product type. Self-reported vaccine data may be more readily available to and less expensive for researchers than assessing medical records. Methods: We surveyed adult participants in the COVID-19 Community Research Partnership who had an authenticated Electronic Health Record (EHR) (N = 41,484) concerning receipt of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination using a daily survey beginning in December 2020 and a supplemental survey in September–October 2021. We compared self-reported information to that available in the EHR for the following data points: vaccine brand, date of first dose, and number of doses using rates of agreement and Bland–Altman plots for visual assessment. Self-reported data was available immediately following vaccination (in the daily survey) and at a delayed interval (in a secondary supplemental survey). Results: For the date of first vaccine dose, self-reported “immediate” recall was within ±7 days of the date reported in the “delayed” survey for 87.9% of participants. Among the 19.6% of participants with evidence of vaccination in their EHR, 95% self-reported vaccination in one of the two surveys. Self-reported dates were within ±7 days of documented EHR vaccination for 97.6% of the “immediate” surveys and 92.0% of the “delayed” surveys. Self-reported vaccine product details matched those in the EHR for over 98% of participants for both “immediate” and “delayed” surveys. Conclusions: Self-reported dates and product details for COVID-19 vaccination can be a good surrogate when medical records are unavailable in large observational studies. A secondary confirmation of dates for a subset of participants with EHR data will provide internal validity.