Close to 40 percent of patients did not follow the CDC-recommended schedule for childhood vaccinations in 2014, according to a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics.
Researchers used the 2014 National Immunization Survey data to classify vaccination patterns as "recommended," which means in line with the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations; "alternate," which means limiting the number of shots per visit or skipping at least one vaccine series; and "unknown or unclassifiable," that is, not in line with advisory committee recommendations, or clearly limiting shots per visit or vaccine series.
Researchers analyzed vaccination patterns for 15,059 children living in the U.S., with provider-verified vaccination data.
They found that 63 percent of vaccination patterns studied were consistent with the advisory committee's recommended schedule. But, 23 percent of vaccination patterns were alternate, and about 15 percent were in the unknown or unclassifiable category.
About 58 percent of the children were up to date for recommended vaccinations at the time they were surveyed. Children following an alternate vaccination pattern were 4.2 times as likely to not be up to date and children following unknown or unclassifiable patterns were about 2.4 times as likely to not be up to date with their recommended vaccination schedule as children vaccinated according to the CDC schedule.