Coverage and predictors of routine immunization among 12-23 months old children in disaster affected communities in Pakistan

Authors

  • Shafiq Ur Rehman Dept. of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi
  • Amna Rehana Siddiqui Associate Professor Dept of Family & Community Medicine College of Medicine King Saud University Riyadh Saudi Arabia
  • Jamil Ahmed Lecturer department of Family and Community Medicine Arabian Gulf University Bahrain.
  • Zafar Fatmi Associate professor Dept of CHS, Aga Khan University, Karachi Pakistan
  • Sayed Masoom Shah Dept of CHS, Aga Khan University, Karachi Pakistan; currently Senior Health coordinator, international rescue committee, Turkey
  • Aisha Rahman Aisha Diagnostic Center and Laboratory, Near Central Hospital, Rawalpnidi
  • Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai Formerly Dept. of Paediatrics & Child Health, Aga Khan University Karachi, Pakistan

Keywords:

Children, coverage, immunization, predictors

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed this study to determine the relationship of various factors related to poor immunization in children in an earthquake affected community.

Methods: We conducted this cross sectional study during 2007-2008 in Muzaffarabad district of Pakistani side of Kashmir. We selected 43 villages as clusters and in the second, 860 children between 12-24 months were selected from households through systematic sampling. Mothers of the eligible children were interviewed with a questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was run to measure association of various factors with appropriate immunization status of the children.

Results: We found that 74% of children had completed their required doses of routine immunization. There were greater odds of a child being unvaccinated if the family lived at a distance that was to be covered in more than 10 minutes by any transport (OR 1.12, 1.08-1.17), mother of the child was not educated (OR 2.4, 1.3-4.4), child belonged to a low Socioeconomic status (SES) (OR 3.5, 2.1-6.3), family had any challenge or situation that where they could not take the child to a health facility for vaccination (OR 2.3, 1.4-3.7) and for a female child  that belonged to minority ethnic group (OR 1.7, 1.0-2.5).

Conclusion: Improvement in access of communities, especially of minority and poor in disaster stricken, to immunization services and female education and awareness about the need for immunization in children could play a role in improving immunization coverage in such settings.

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Published

2017-02-06

How to Cite

Rehman, S. U., Siddiqui, A. R., Ahmed, J., Fatmi, Z., Shah, S. M., Rahman, A., & Yousafzai, M. T. (2017). Coverage and predictors of routine immunization among 12-23 months old children in disaster affected communities in Pakistan. International Journal of Health Sciences, 11(1). Retrieved from https://pub.qu.edu.sa/index.php/journal/article/view/1219

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Original Paper

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