Implementation of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling Using Mobile Data Collection Tools to Assess Vaccination Coverage After Synchronized Polio Vaccination in the Province of Camiguin, Philippines

ObjectivesThe study assessed immunization coverage after one round of synchronized Polio vaccination in Camiguin, Philippines. It included classifying the coverage level, identifying the level of awareness and source of information for the campaign, describing the reasons for non-vaccination, and pilot a mobile data collection platform. MethodsLot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) is a household survey using a multi-stage clustered technique. Sixty respondents per municipality, divided into 6 clusters, with one barangay considered as one cluster. Barangays were selected with probability proportional to size. Households were taken by systematic sampling. One child was randomly selected if there were multiple children in a household. Data collection was done using KoBo Toolbox. ResultsThe municipalities of Mahinog and Sagay had two unvaccinated children each. Guinsiliban and Mambajao only had one unvaccinated child each. Catarman did not have any unvaccinated child. The reasons for non-vaccination were the lack of means of validation, fear of side effects, and the absence of a caregiver at the time of vaccination. The most common sources of information were health workers and television. DiscussionCoverage for all five municipalities of the province passed the decision value. The main reason for non-vaccination was the lack of means of validation, which emphasizes the need for high quality finger marking and the provision of vaccination cards. Only Mahinog did not pass the threshold for campaign awareness. LQAS is useful for validating areas with concerns on the set target population and administrative coverage. Mobile data collection through KoBo ToolBox is a useful method for field use. It is easily adaptable, user-friendly, and allows for immediate data validation and analysis.