Effectiveness of introducing point of care capillary testing and linking screening with routine appointments for increasing blood lead screening rates of young children: a before-after study

Table 1 Estimated birth cohorts, attendance at blood lead screening by 12–59 month old children in Broken Hill, 2005–2012: number screened, number of days on which screening was provided, and average number of children screened per day

	2005	2006	2007	2008^a	2009	2010^b	2011^c	2012
Estimated birth cohort (NMD)	237	218	240	236	216	228	190	-
Children screened	563	456	456	361	376	397	554	665
Number of screening days	53	46	53	72	76	80	148	184
Average number children screened per screening day	10.34	9.76	8.66	5.01	4.75	5	4	3.66

^aCapillary introduced October 2008
^bScreening regularly available at local indigenous health clinic
^cScreening offered at 18 month immunization in March and at all immunizations from September; SMS appointment reminders introduced in May

ISSN: 2049-3258