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Review
. 2017 Dec 22;18(1):108.
doi: 10.1186/s12875-017-0694-1.

Missed opportunities for improving practice performance in adult immunizations: a meta-narrative review of the literature

Natalia Loskutova  1 , Craig Smail  2 , Brian Webster  3 , Kemi Ajayi  2 , Julie Wood  2 , Jennifer Carroll  2   4
Affiliations
Review

Missed opportunities for improving practice performance in adult immunizations: a meta-narrative review of the literature

Natalia Loskutova et al. BMC Fam Pract. .

Abstract

Background: We sought to characterize how the term "missed opportunities" is reported in the literature in the context of immunization rates and to assess how missed opportunities can be operationalized.

Methods: Peer-reviewed literature searches were conducted in April - May, 2015, to answer: "What methods research studies used to operationalize missed opportunities to vaccinate?" A meta-narrative review methodology was used.

Results: Seven studies met inclusion criteria. The methodologies for quantifying missed opportunities fell into two general categories based on: 1. the number of healthcare encounters per patient without appropriate vaccination services, defined as a number of visits per patient with no vaccination related services (Missed opportunities per patient); 2. vaccination status as "non-vaccinated" among a group of patients who had a healthcare encounter where the vaccination should/could have had happened (Missed opportunities per population).

Conclusions: Our study provided an initial overview of the methods reported in the literature, and concluded that the quantifiable missed opportunity holds promise as a measurable outcome (variable) for research and quality improvement projects aimed to increase adult immunization recommendation and uptake in primary care.

Keywords: Adult immunizations; Meta-narrative literature review; Missed opportunity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable (not human subjects research).

Consent for publication

Not applicable (not human subjects research).

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Article selection process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Meta-narrative maps of the common methodological approaches in operationalizing missed opportunities
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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