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    Patient Educ Couns. 2008 Mar;70(3):403-6.

    Have you had a tetanus booster in the last 10 years? Sensitivity and specificity of the question.

    Hagen PT, Bond AR, Rehman H, Molella RG, Murad MH.

    The Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, United States.

    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of patients' recall of their last Tetanus/Diphtheria (Td) booster in the setting of employee health clinics known for high immunization rates and good documentation of vaccine status. METHODS: Five hundred and seventy-two patients of an employee health clinic answered a written questionnaire about whether they have had a Td booster in the last 10 years. Answers were compared with patients' charts as the gold standard. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the question is 92.4% (95% CI 89.0-95.0) and specificity is 26.5% (95% CI 12.9-44.4). Positive predictive value is 92.6% (95% CI 89.3-95.2) and negative predictive value is 25.7% (95% CI 12.5-43.3). Age and gender do not affect the accuracy of recall. CONCLUSION: A positive answer to this question is highly reliable whereas a negative answer is unreliable. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: In the setting of employee health clinics, when patients affirm the receipt of a Td booster within the previous 10 years, it is quite likely that they are up to date and do not require re-administration of the vaccine. Any other answer to this question (No, I do not know) is unreliable and a booster should be recommended if not contraindicated.

    PMID: 18079084 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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    • Tetanus and Diphtheria Vaccine

      Information regarding the tetanus and diphtheria vaccine (Td) has been merged with the monograph for tetanus, diphetheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine.