Search

Researchers strive to design and implement high-quality surveys to maximize the utility of the data collected. The definitions of quality and usefulness, however, vary from survey to survey and depend on the analytic needs. Survey teams must evaluate the trade-offs of various decisions, such as when results are needed and their required level of precision, in addition to practical constraints like budget, before finalizing the design. Characteristics within the concept of fit for purpose (FfP) can provide the framework for considering the trade-offs. Furthermore, this tool can enable an evaluation of quality for the resulting estimates. Implementation of a FfP framework in this context, however, is not straightforward.In this article, we provide the reader with a glimpse of a FfP framework in action for obtaining estimates on early season influenza vaccination coverage estimates and on knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and barriers related to influenza and influenza prevention among civilian noninstitutionalized adults aged 18 years and older in the United States. The result is the National Internet Flu Survey (NIFS), an annual, two-week internet survey sponsored by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to critical design decisions, we use the established NIFS FfP framework to discuss the quality of the NIFS in meeting the intended objectives. We highlight aspects that work well and other survey traits requiring further evaluation. Differences found in comparing the NIFS to the National Flu Survey, the National Health Interview Survey, and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System are discussed via their respective FfP characteristics. The findings presented here highlight the importance of the FfP framework for designing surveys, defining data quality, and providing a set a metrics used to advertise the intended use of the survey data and results.

This article describes perceptions of the COVID‐19 vaccine among US adults, and reports that younger adults, women, non‐Hispanic Black adults, adults living in nonmetropolitan areas, adults with less education and income, and adults without health insurance have the highest estimates of nonintent to receive vaccination; due to concerns about side effects and safety of the COVID‐19 vaccine, lack of trust in the government, and concern that COVID‐19 vaccines were developed too quickly are the primary reasons for deferring vaccination. Solid organ transplant candidates and recipients may harbor similar concerns about vaccination, and further, may rely more heavily on herd immunity for protection from COVID‐19, since the efficacy of COVID‐19 vaccination among immunosuppressed individuals remains ill‐defined. Promoting vaccine confidence among transplant candidates, transplant recipients, and the general population will thus be critical to preventing spread of COVID‐19.

Objective The objective was to compare estimates of childhood influenza vaccination across 7 consecutive influenza seasons based on 2 survey systems.Methods We analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the National Immunization Survey–Flu (NIS-Flu) using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to estimate receipt, based on parental report, of at least 1 dose of influenza vaccine among children aged 6 months to 17 years.Results We found no significant increasing trend in influenza vaccination coverage among children overall from 2012 to 2018 based on the NHIS or from 2012 to 2019 based on the NIS-Flu. We found 4 seasons with a significant increase in influenza vaccination coverage compared with the previous season (2012-2013 [NHIS, NIS-Flu], 2013-2014 [NIS-Flu], 2017-2018 [NHIS], and 2018-2019 [NIS-Flu]). As of the 2018-2019 season, based on NIS-Flu, influenza vaccination coverage was only 62.6%. Children with health conditions that put them at increased risk for complications from influenza had higher influenza vaccination coverage than children without these health conditions for all the seasons studied except 2014-2015. For all seasons studied, influenza vaccination coverage estimates for children were higher based on NIS-Flu data compared with NHIS data. Trends across seasons and differences in vaccination coverage between age groups were similar between the 2 surveys.Conclusions Influenza vaccination coverage among children appears to have plateaued. Only about half of the children in the United States were vaccinated against influenza. Improvements in measurement of influenza vaccination and development and review of strategies to increase childhood influenza vaccination coverage are needed.

Previous research has shown that increasing the size of incentives can increase response rates for probability-based, cross-sectional surveys. However, the effects of incentives on web panels have not been extensively studied. We sought to answer the question: What is the effect of larger, postpaid incentives on (1) response, (2) data quality, and (3) nonresponse bias for individuals in a web panel? We analyzed data from the 2015 and 2016 National Internet Flu Survey, a survey that uses the GfK KnowledgePanel® as its sampling frame. We compare panel members who received a postpaid, standard 1,000-point (the equivalent of US$1) incentive in 2015 to panelists who received a larger, 5,000-point (the equivalent of US$5) incentive in 2016. We found that larger incentives were associated with increased interview completion rates with minimal impact on data quality or bias.

Epidemiologic studies of feline vaccine-associated sarcoma (FVAS) require accurate sarcoma case definitions free from unverified assumptions for valid causal inference. This study developed methodologic approaches to improve reliable differentiation of vaccine versus nonvaccine-associated sarcomas on histologic characteristics using time windows of vaccine histories and body geographic information. Four case and five control definitions were used to classify 124 sarcomas. Results showed presence in the subcutis versus dermis, increased nuclear pleomorphism, more granulation tissue, and higher presence of inflammation in FVAS than presumptive non-FVAS. Correctly classifying sarcomas using stringent classification criteria as employed in this study will help reduce misclassification of FVAS in future epidemiologic studies of comparative risk.