Peer-reviewed article
Factors associated with full vaccination and zero vaccine dose in children aged 12-59 months in 6 health districts of Cameroon.
Yakum MN, Atanga FD, Ajong AB, Eba Ze LE, Shah Z ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined factors associated with childhood vaccination coverage in Yaoundé, Cameroon, surveying 273 children aged 12-59 months. Only 37% of children were fully immunised, and 16% had never received any vaccine. Higher maternal education and living with both parents were associated with better vaccination coverage, while poverty and low maternal education were associated with children receiving no vaccines at all.
Key points
- Full vaccination coverage in the study was 37%, lower than the 42% national average reported in the 2018 DHS
- 16% of children had never received any vaccine
- Maternal higher education was associated with 8.25 times higher odds of full vaccination
- Children in richer households and those living with both parents had significantly lower odds of being zero-dose
- Poverty and maternal lack of education were key barriers to vaccination coverage
Limitations
The study is limited to one urban setting (Yaoundé) and may not represent rural or other urban areas in Cameroon. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality, only associations between factors and vaccination status.
Abstract
Background Routine immunisation coverage in Cameroon is still below the target of the national Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), with only 42% of children fully immunised according to Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) report in 2018. The objective of this study was to evaluate factors associated with full immunisation and zero-dose in Cameroonian children. Methods A two-stage cross-sectional cluster survey was conducted in Yaoundé in November 2021, targeting children aged 12-59 months. The clusters were chosen with probability proportionate to population size (PPS), and households selected by restricted sampling technique. Data were collected from the vaccination card of the child or from parents' recall, if the card was not available, using electronic forms with tablets. Using R (version 4.1.0.), the proportion of fully immunised children was calculated. The household wealth index was described using principal component analysis, and factors associated with full immunisation assessed with multiple logistics regression. The threshold of statistical significance was set at 5%. Findings A total, 273 children aged 12-59 months enrolled; 37% of participants were fully immunised, and 16% had never received any vaccine. Mother's level of education: Primary (OR = 3.59, p = 0.0200), high school (OR = 3.68, p = 0.0400*), and higher education (OR = 8.25, p = 0.0018), and sharing household with biological father (OR = 2.11, p = 0.0305) were significantly associated with full vaccination. Living in a richer (3rd-5th wealth quintiles) household (OR = 0.25, p = 0.0053); mother's education: Primary (OR = 0.07, p = 0.0271) and Higher education (OR = 0.10, p = 0.0419), living with the mother (OR = 0.05, p = < 0.0001) and living with the father (OR = 0.22, p = 0.0253) had significant negative association with zero-dose in children. Conclusion The proportion of fully vaccinated children in Yaounde is lower than the national average. Children from poor homes and those borne by uneducated mother have higher odds of not being vaccinated. Immunisation programmes in Yaounde need to be stepped up to improve coverage. Equally, there is a need to reconsider how the poor can the better reached with immunisation services.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Routine immunisation services through the national Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI)
- Population
- Children aged 12-59 months in 6 health districts of Yaoundé, Cameroon (273 children enrolled)
Key finding
37% of children aged 12-59 months were fully immunised