Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana
BackgroundImmunization remains one of the most cost-effective health interventions. However, there are still issues of vaccine hesitancy especially in caregivers who are required to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases. This thwarts the overall vaccine coverage in disease-endemic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1230492/full |
| _version_ | 1797682437048762368 |
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| author | Samuel E. Danso Samuel E. Danso Augustina Frimpong Nana A. H. Seneadza Michael F. Ofori |
| author_facet | Samuel E. Danso Samuel E. Danso Augustina Frimpong Nana A. H. Seneadza Michael F. Ofori |
| author_sort | Samuel E. Danso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundImmunization remains one of the most cost-effective health interventions. However, there are still issues of vaccine hesitancy especially in caregivers who are required to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases. This thwarts the overall vaccine coverage in disease-endemic areas such as sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, to determine the factors that promote vaccine hesitancy in caregivers, this study sought to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi, a sub-metro of Accra in Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional study on childhood immunization was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers. A total of 120 caregivers with infants aged 12 months to 23 months were interviewed with a structured questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended queries.ResultsFrom the community, infants whose caregivers had adhered completely to immunization constituted 53.3% while the rest were partially immunized. The two main deterrents to complete immunization were time constraints (25.8%) and forgetfulness (17.5%). It was observed that vaccination uptake and maternal level of education, as well as vaccination adverse reaction, did not impact the completion of the EPI program by these caregivers. Unfortunately, it was noted that caregivers with higher education levels were unable to complete their vaccination schedules due to their busy work schedules. Nonetheless, the main deterrent to adhering to complete childhood immunization was poor maternal knowledge (58%).ConclusionThe study revealed that, the caregivers in the community had poor knowledge on vaccination and its benefits, and therefore, with no strict adherence to vaccination schedules. This promoted the incomplete immunization of children in the community by their caregivers. Also, since the main source of information with regard to immunization in the sub-metro was through the antenatal and postnatal child welfare clinics and the media, we recommend that the health workers collaborate with media personnel to ensure that standardized information is disseminated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:59:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-00a134f54c0d4a20b19806d6c548624d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:59:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-00a134f54c0d4a20b19806d6c548624d2023-09-18T04:57:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-09-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.12304921230492Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, GhanaSamuel E. Danso0Samuel E. Danso1Augustina Frimpong2Nana A. H. Seneadza3Michael F. Ofori4Department of Community Health, University of Ghana Medical and Dental School, College of Health Science, Accra, GhanaGA East Hospital, Accra, GhanaDepartment of Immunology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, GhanaDepartment of Community Health, University of Ghana Medical and Dental School, College of Health Science, Accra, GhanaDepartment of Immunology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, GhanaBackgroundImmunization remains one of the most cost-effective health interventions. However, there are still issues of vaccine hesitancy especially in caregivers who are required to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases. This thwarts the overall vaccine coverage in disease-endemic areas such as sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, to determine the factors that promote vaccine hesitancy in caregivers, this study sought to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi, a sub-metro of Accra in Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional study on childhood immunization was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers. A total of 120 caregivers with infants aged 12 months to 23 months were interviewed with a structured questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended queries.ResultsFrom the community, infants whose caregivers had adhered completely to immunization constituted 53.3% while the rest were partially immunized. The two main deterrents to complete immunization were time constraints (25.8%) and forgetfulness (17.5%). It was observed that vaccination uptake and maternal level of education, as well as vaccination adverse reaction, did not impact the completion of the EPI program by these caregivers. Unfortunately, it was noted that caregivers with higher education levels were unable to complete their vaccination schedules due to their busy work schedules. Nonetheless, the main deterrent to adhering to complete childhood immunization was poor maternal knowledge (58%).ConclusionThe study revealed that, the caregivers in the community had poor knowledge on vaccination and its benefits, and therefore, with no strict adherence to vaccination schedules. This promoted the incomplete immunization of children in the community by their caregivers. Also, since the main source of information with regard to immunization in the sub-metro was through the antenatal and postnatal child welfare clinics and the media, we recommend that the health workers collaborate with media personnel to ensure that standardized information is disseminated.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1230492/fullimmunizationchild immunizationattitudesGhanaimmunization coverage |
| spellingShingle | Samuel E. Danso Samuel E. Danso Augustina Frimpong Nana A. H. Seneadza Michael F. Ofori Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana Frontiers in Public Health immunization child immunization attitudes Ghana immunization coverage |
| title | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana |
| title_full | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana |
| title_short | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana |
| title_sort | knowledge attitudes and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in okaikoi sub metro of accra ghana |
| topic | immunization child immunization attitudes Ghana immunization coverage |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1230492/full |
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