Methods of Tracking Newborns: New York State Zika Pregnancy and Infant Registry, 2015-2017.

Abstract

<i>Objectives.</i> To describe methods employed to track infants enrolled in the New York State Zika Pregnancy and Infant Registry (NYSZPIR) and demonstrate the benefits of population databases to improve the process.<i>Methods.</i> We used patient medical records and provider outreach, New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS), and New York State Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Information System (NYEHDI-IS) to gather medical information. We used descriptive statistics to summarize variables and the McNemar test to determine statistical significance (<i>P</i> < .05).<i>Results.</i> We identified 109 live births from NYSZPIR mothers. Provider information was documented for 106 (97.2%) infants in NYSIIS compared with 72 (66.1%) through chart review. Collected results of newborn hearing screening increased from 82 (75.2%) to 106 (97.2%) using NYEHDI-IS. The amount of data obtained was significantly higher (<i>P</i> < .001) when including NYSIIS and NYEHDI-IS compared with using medical records alone.<i>Conclusions.</i> Public health surveillance systems can be used to track infants using data sources such as NYSIIS and NYEHDI-IS in addition to traditional methods. Using medical records alone is inadequate for locating and tracking infants and may result in high lost to follow-up rates.