Vaccination coverage among children aged 0-5 years in central malatya and the associated factors

VACC NAT ON COVERAGE AMONG CH LDREN AGED 0-5 YEARSIN CENTRAL MALATYA AND THEASSOC ATED FACTORSABSTRACTObjective: To define the vaccination coverage among children aged 0-5 years incentral Malatya and to define their mothers? attitudes and knowledge against vaccine andvaccination.Materials and methods:In this cross-sectional study, six hundred children aged 0-5years were studied. Children were selected by using thirty cluster sampling method. Healthhouses in the centre were defined as cluster unit and twenty children from each cluster wereselected systematically. Data gathering was done by administiring a face to face questionnaireto the children? mother. Data analysis was done by using SPSS 9.0 and chi-square, Kruskall-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U and logistic regression tests were used.Results: Of the participated children, 46.0% wer girls and 54.0% were boys. Ninetypercent of the children were from urban settlements. The average age of the children was1.76±0.05 years. Of the children? mothers, 15.3% were not completed primary schooleducation and 32.2% spoke their native language other than Turkish. Only 8.8% of themothers reported that they read a newspaper everyday and the frequency was less in nativelanguage speakers (p<0.05).Of the mothers, 71.8% had got information on the vaccinationfrom health personnel. Most of them were living in the urban settlements, comparatively moreeducated and Turkish language speakers (p<0.05).Of the mothers, 90.0% belived thatvaccination was necessary for health. That attitude was more frequent among mothers whowere urban residents, more educated and who had got information from the health personnel(p<0.05). The level of knowledge on the vaccines and vaccination was higher as theeducation level got higher (p<0.05). The mean vaccine knowledge points was significantlyassociated with settlement, speaking another language, having a job, reading newspaper andbelieving in the necessity of vaccination (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed thatcompleting the secondary school or higher education (OR=4.1) and reading newspaper almosteveryday (OR=3.0) were the significantly associated with having a high average point invaccination knowledge. The study showed that 67.7% of the children aged 12-23 months hada vaccination card and 94.9% were fully immunised. Being fully immunized was associatedwith mother education, residence, having been informed on the vaccination, vaccinationknowledge level and speaking another language in the univariate analysis. Logistic regressionanalysis showed that urban residence (OR=28.2) and being informed on the vaccination bythe health personnel (OR=14.0) were the primarily associated factors with being fullyimmunized. The frequency of fully immunization among children aged 24-71 months was90.8%. In this age group, residence, mother education having information on the vaccination,vaccine knowledge level and attitude towards the necessity of vaccination were defined as theassociated variables with being fully immunized in the univariate analysis (p<0.05). Similarly,urban residence (OR=7.7) and being informed on the vaccination by the health personnel(OR=2.6) were the primarily assocated variables in being fully immunized.Conclusion: The study showed that vaccination coverage rates were higher than thecountry rates in the central Malatya. However, it was seen that mothers did not have enoughknowledge on the vaccination.Key words: Vaccination coverage, Expanded Programme on Immunization,Children, vaccination knowledge