A Cross-sectional Study on Awareness, Attitude and Utilisation of Immunisation Services by Mothers of Under-five in Elele, Rivers State, Nigeria

Introduction: Approximately 6.2 million under-five children die globally on annual basis and immunisation having been recognised as the most successful and cost-effective public health intervention of the 20thcentury regarding the number of deaths averted can help to prevent approximately 2 million of these deaths if coverage is optimal.

Objectives: To assess the awareness and attitude of mothers towards utilisation of immunisation services in Elele, Rivers State.

Methodology: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted between April and July 2015. The study population comprised of mothers with at least one under-five-year-old child. Stratified sampling technique was used, and data collection was with a pre-tested, semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20. Level of statistical significance was set at p-value ≤ 0.05.

Results: The average age of the respondents was 28.6 ± 5.3 years. Most (89.3%) had at least a secondary level of education. Respondents level of awareness of childhood immunisation was high (95.0%) and the major sources of information on immunisation were antenatal clinic (61.0%) and health workers (20.0%). Respondents' knowledge of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) was highest with poliomyelitis (76.0%) while diphtheria at 34.4% was the least known. Approximately seven percent (7.3%) of the respondents' children were unimmunized while 18.1% were partially immunised. Tetanus toxoid utilisation was significantly associated with respondents' level of education (χ2 = 9.44, p-value = 0.0240) while the odds of completing their children immunisation was higher if done in a hospital setting compared to home service {OR (95% CI): 4.03 (1.09 – 14.95)}.

Conclusion: Health education on some of the VPDs by healthcare personnel is advocated for the community. Greater efforts should be placed on strengthening routine immunisation as against supplemental immunisation since the former has a better immunisation completion rate.