Introduction: childhood deaths from preventable causes remain high in Nigeria. Although vaccines are available to combat many of these diseases, vaccine coverage remains low in many at-risk communities. With this study, we aimed to determine factors that might have impacted the use of immunization services in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in southwest Nigeria.
Methods: we conducted a community-based cross-sectional study in a peri-urban local government area in Ibadan using a multi-stage cluster sampling technique to identify respondents for this study. The interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on respondents and child socio-demographic details. We reviewed the child´s vaccine card to determine vaccine status. Data were analyzed using STATA version 14 at a 5% level of significance.
Results: of the 265 children aged 12 to 59 months who had their vaccine cards appropriately filled, only 65.3% (n=173) received all basic vaccines, while 90.2% (n=239) and 86.8% (n=230) received 3 doses of pentavalent vaccine (PENTA) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV-10) respectively. We found a significant difference in the completion of basic vaccination according to the caregiver´s place of residence and the mother´s educational level. Access-related barriers were frequently reported (n=24, 54.5%) as reasons for missing a due vaccine.
Conclusion: improvement in vaccine coverage in this setting is necessary. Targeted health information for mothers may be a cost-efficient and sustainable approach to improve vaccine coverage for under-five children.
Keywords: Under-five children; caregivers; child vaccine card; immunization; vaccine status.
Copyright: Julius Salako et al.