Sally E. Findley ^1*, Matilde Irigoyen ¹, Martha Sanchez ¹, Melissa S. Stockwell ¹, Miriam Mejia ², Letty Guzman ², Richard Ferreira ³, Oscar Pena ¹, Shaofu Chen ¹, Raquel Andres-Martinez ¹

¹ Columbia University
² Alianza Dominicana, Inc
³ Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Inc.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sef5{at}columbia.edu.

	Abstract

We used a retrospective, matching, birth cohort design to evaluate a comprehensive, coalition-led childhood immunization program of outreach, education, and reminders in a Latino, urban community. After we controlled for Latino ethnicity and Medicaid, we found that children enrolled in the program were 53% more likely to be up-to-date (adjusted odds ratio=1.53; 95% confidence interval=1.33, 1.75) and to receive timely immunizations than were children in the control group. The coalition-led, community-based immunization program was effective in improving on-time childhood immunization coverage.

Key Words: Child and Adolescent Health, Community Health, Immunization/Vaccines, Hispanics/Latinos, Urban Health