Peer-reviewed article
Factors Associated with Incomplete Childhood Immunization among Children Aged 12–36 Months in Burkina Faso
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Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This study used data from the 2021 Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey to look at why many children aged 12 to 36 months had not completed their routine vaccinations. Incomplete immunization meant a child had not received all recommended routine doses by 15 months of age. About two in three eligible children had not completed the schedule. Mother's occupation and how respectfully she was treated at health facilities were linked to incomplete immunization. The authors suggest more person-centered care, better follow-up after the first dose, and wider community outreach.
Key points
- Of 2,375 eligible children, 1,482 (66.0%) had not completed their immunization schedule.
- The dropout rate between the first and third doses of the pentavalent vaccine was 11.0%.
- Children of mothers in salaried work (aPR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.98) had a lower prevalence of incomplete immunization. The abstract also reports a lower prevalence for farmer/self-employed mothers.
- Mothers who said they were treated with respect only 'sometimes' at health facilities had a higher prevalence of incomplete immunization (aPR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02-1.27).
- The authors suggest person-centered care, better follow-up after the first dose, and expanded community-based outreach.
Limitations
This is a secondary analysis of survey data, so it shows associations rather than causes and does not test any intervention. The abstract does not give the comparison group for maternal occupation. The reported figures also look inconsistent: 1,482 of 2,375 is about 62%, not 66.0%, and one confidence interval is garbled, so the abstract alone cannot resolve these.
Abstract
Childhood immunization remains one of the most effective public health interventions to preventvaccine-preventable diseases.In Burkina Faso, incomplete immunization schedules remain a challenge amid insecurity, population displacement, and health system disruptions.This study aimed to identify factors associated with incomplete immunization and the vaccination dropout rate in children aged 12 to 36 months.A secondary analysis of the 2021 Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey (2021-DHS-BF) data was performed.Incomplete immunization was defined as a child not receiving all recommended routine vaccine doses by 15 months of age.Factors associated with incomplete immunization were identified using modified Poisson regression with generalized estimating equations; adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) with 95% confidence intervals were reported at a 5% significance threshold.Among the 2,375 children who met the eligibility criteria in the 2021-DHS-BF dataset, 1,482 (66.0%) had not completed their immunization schedule.The dropout rate between the first and third doses of the pentavalent vaccine was 11.0%.Maternal occupation (Saler: aPR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.98 and farmer/selfemployed: aPR = 0.93; 0.85, 95% CI: 0.78-0.94)and being treated with respect "sometimes" at health facilities (aPR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02-1.27)were associated with an incomplete immunization schedule.Strengthening person-centered care, improving post-first-dose follow-up, and expanding community-based outreach strategies could improve immunization schedule completion.