Peer-reviewed article
Age-appropriate vaccination coverage and its associated factors for pentavalent 1-3 and measles vaccine doses, in northeast Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study
Tefera Alemu, Muluken Azage, Kebadnew Mulatu ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how many children in northeast Ethiopia received vaccines at the recommended ages, focusing on pentavalent and measles vaccines in children aged 12 to 23 months. Only about 26 to 39 percent of children received these vaccines on time. The research found that lack of phone access, unstable caregiving, unplanned pregnancies, and insufficient knowledge about vaccination were linked to delays in vaccination.
Key points
- Age-appropriate vaccination coverage was very low: 39.1% for pentavalent dose 1, 36.3% for dose 2, 30.3% for dose 3, and 26.4% for measles
- Male children were less likely to receive age-inappropriate vaccinations (protective factor)
- Lack of telephone access nearly doubled the risk of age-inappropriate vaccination (AOR: 2.2)
- Lack of usual caretaker increased risk of age-inappropriate vaccination (AOR: 2.6)
- Insufficient parental knowledge about vaccination was strongly associated with delayed vaccination (AOR: 2.7)
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot establish causation or temporal relationships. Findings are specific to one district in northeast Ethiopia and may not generalise to other regions.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia, there are limited studies on age-appropriate vaccinations that children received at the recommended specific ages. Therefore, we assessed age-appropriate vaccinations coverage and its associated factors among children 12 to 23 months of age in Menz Lalo district, northeast Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Menz Lalo district from March to April/2018 among 417 mothers/caregivers with children 12 to 23 months of age using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Information about children's vaccination status was collected from vaccination cards. Age-appropriate vaccination coverage was measured using World Health Organization vaccination schedule recommendation. Data was entered into Epi-Info7 software and exported to SPSS-20 for analysis. Four consecutive logistic regression models were performed to identify factors associated with age-inappropriate vaccinations. A P-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered to state statistically significant associations. RESULTS: Age-appropriate vaccination coverage was 39.1% (95% CI: 34.3 to 44) for pentavalent 1, 36.3% (95% CI: 31.6 to 41.5) for pentavalent 2, 30.3% (95% CI: 25.6 to 35) for pentavalent 3 and 26.4% (95% CI: 21.7 to 31) for measles vaccine doses. Age-inappropriate pentavalent 1-3 vaccinations was associated with being male sex (AOR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.29-0.74), lack of telephone (AOR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.4-3.6), lack of usual caretaker (AOR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.3-5.2), unplanned pregnancy (AOR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-3.5), missing pregnant women's conference (AOR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.3-5.7), decreasing birth order (AOR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17-0.68) and insufficient knowledge (AOR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.6-4.4). CONCLUSION: The proportions of age-appropriate vaccination coverage were low in the study area. Modifiable factors were associated with age-inappropriate vaccinations. Vaccination interventions should consider identified modifiable factors to improve age-appropriate vaccinations coverage.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Not applicable - this is an observational study identifying associated factors with age-inappropriate vaccination, not testing an intervention
- Population
- 417 mothers and caregivers of children aged 12 to 23 months in Menz Lalo district, northeast Ethiopia
Key finding
Age-appropriate vaccination coverage was 39.1% for pentavalent 1, 36.3% for pentavalent 2, 30.3% for pentavalent 3, and 26.4% for measles