Factors associated with improved immunization rates for urban minority preschool children.

Urban, poor, preschool children are noted for having low immunization rates. To determine factors related to completion of immunization, vaccine records of 479 3-year-old children from an inner-city pediatric clinic were reviewed. Complete immunization was defined as four diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis doses, three oral polio vaccine doses, one measles-mumps-rubella dose, and one Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine dose. Seventy percent of our patients were up-to-date by 2 years of age. The administration of all age-appropriate vaccines at a single visit for patients 15 months and older, the establishment of a continuous primary-care relationship, earlier age at first immunization, and lower birth weight were significantly associated with higher immunization levels in our study.