Overview

The U.S. Public Health Service is committed to reaching the Healthy People 2010 objective that at least 90 percent of adolescents in the United States receive certain vaccinations. To measure progress toward this goal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting the National Immunization Survey-Teen (NIS-Teen). This study collects data by interviewing households in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and selected areas for oversampling. The interviews are conducted by telephone with households selected at random. To assure the accuracy and precision of the vaccination coverage estimates, immunization data for surveyed adolescents are also collected through a mail survey of their pediatricians, family physicians, and other health care providers. The parents and guardians of eligible adolescents are asked during the telephone interview for consent to contact the adolescents’ vaccination providers. Types of immunizations, dates of administration, and additional data about facility characteristics are requested from immunization providers that are identified during the telephone survey of households. The NIS-Teen’s estimates of adolescent vaccination coverage reflect a comparison of information provided by both surveyed households and immunization providers.

The NIS-Teen study has two parts:
1.  A household telephone survey. This survey asks questions about immunizations for adolescents 13-17 years of age and requests parental permission for contacting adolescents' vaccination providers.
2. A survey of vaccination providers. This survey of doctors and other vaccination providers is conducted for study participants who have provided consent for this phase of the study.

Answers to frequently asked questions about the household telephone survey or the survey of vaccination providers.

For additional information, please visit the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases Web site.

The NIS is now conducted for the CDC by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. If you have any questions about the National Immunization Survey (NIS), please call toll free at 1-866-999-3340.

This page last reviewed July 25, 2008