[Public funding impact of the pneumococcal vaccine on compliance with the vaccination schedule.]

OBJECTIVE: It is important to know the impact of public financing on routine vaccination on compliance with the vaccination regimen. Few studies have been carried out on this topic. The objective of this study was to describe the effect of public financing of pneumococcal vaccine on vaccination coverage and the degree of compliance with the vaccination regimen in the child population of the Community of Madrid (CM).

METHODS: A descriptive observational study was carried out. The study population were children vaccinated in the period of public (2008 and 2010) and private (2012 and 2013) funding. Data source was the vaccination information system. We estimated the coverage of "full inmunization" at 24 months and the coverage of "vaccination on time" of the primary vaccination and the complete schedule. Comparison according to the type of financing was made using the prevalence ratio (PR) and the relative percentage of change. The delay between vaccine doses was calculated at 24 months of age.

RESULTS: On-time vaccination coverage was 72% when public financing of the vaccine and 64% when private financing (PR= 1.12). The delay between doses was greater than 10% when funding was private.

CONCLUSIONS: Public financing of the vaccine improves compliance with the vaccine regimen.