“Ultimatelythis research is to prevent hospitalisationsand potentially fatal outcomes during pregnancy and early infancy.”
The teamspentseveralyearscollatingimmunisation recordsheldbypharmacies,generalpractices, andtheNationwideImmunisationRegister.While theresearcherssawa steady improvement in the accuracy of datacapturedby these sourcesovertime,they estimatethatin 202110%ofmaternal immunisationswere stillnotrecorded.
Dr Hobbsbelievesthiscan be attributed to the ongoing transitionawayfromoldersystems,such asthe silosofdistrict health boards,to nationwidehealthsystems such as those to beoverseen by TeWhatuOra and Te AkaWhaiOra, the Māori Health Authority.
“Even though the DHBs are no longer operatingseparately,some of the infrastructure and data collection systemsseem tostillbein place,” hesays.
“It takestime to develop new data systems butright nowit’satime-consumingprocesstoacquirethe full data set.Thismeansthe true picture aboutmaternal immunisationcoverage in some areas is inaccurate.”
TeWhatuOra iscurrentlydevelopinganational system,the ҕl Immunisation Register(AIR)toreplace the aging National Immunisation Register. The new system willenable acomprehensivepicture of population immunisation coverage,and supportmore targetedhealth policy. Dr Hobbsseesthis asa vital step.
DrHobbsspeaksveryhighly of theresearchteam, all of whom brought valuable experience and insight to the project.
“Webroughtareal mixture ofexpertisetogether andit’sbeenso refreshingto work with this team.We really gel andwe’vealreadyidentifiedthekey areaswe’dlike towork on more.”
Thismay includefutureresearchtostudydataregardingother vaccines, he says.“The data flows down to the communityboth indirectly and directly,for instance in terms ofbetter understanding who needs support.”
The study,funded by a Health Research Council Activation Grant, has just beenpublished in theNew Zealand Medical Journal.A further study,now underway with Dr Amber Young and Dr Esther Willing from Otago University,focuses on improving the uptake of maternal vaccination across ҕl. The data-focused project will help to underpin this research.
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