Assessment of routine childhood immunization data quality, Bono Region, Ghana 2023

Introduction: Global immunization rates dropped from 83.0% in 2020 to 81.0% in 2021. Though the Bono region saw a 12.5% increase in Penta3 coverage between 2020 and 2022, a lack of regular data quality assessments in the region and the possible impacts of low data quality prompted the assessment of immunization data accuracy and consistency. Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study to assess the quality of immunization data collected in 36 health facilities from January 2023 to March 2023. Immunization tally sheets and abstracted District Health Information Management System 2 (DHIMS2) data were compared for accuracy. Hardcopy vaccination reports were compared with abstracted DHIMS2 data for consistency. Structured interviews were conducted among 36 community health officers using a data collection tool adapted from WHO. Data was analyzed using the WHO data quality review protocol, with the resulting frequencies and proportions represented in charts and maps and the reasons for the observed discrepancies categorized into relevant themes. Results: The study revealed that 69.4% (25/36) of the assessed health facilities reported inaccurate data and 38.9% (14/36) reported inconsistent data. Mean underreporting and overreporting stood at 24.0% and 19.0% respectively, while mean data inconsistency was 18.5%. Reasons for poor data quality included inadequate data collection tools, poor documentation, high workload and irregular data validation. Conclusion: We observed low immunization data accuracy and moderate consistency in health facilities. Health directorates should provide revised data collection tools, regularize data quality audits and staff training on documentation practices and consider adopting electronic data collection tools.