Knowledge, attitude and practices of mothers regarding immunization of infants and preschool children at Al-Beida City, Libya 2008

Abstract

Objectives: To identify maternal knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) about immunization and to determine maternal characteristics and the determinants of full immunization status among respondents of children age (2-24 months). Methods: A cross sectional survey of nonrandomized sample of 200 mothers were interviewed at primary health care clinic at Al-Beida City coming for vaccination of their children in a period from first to 31 August 2008. Results: From a total of 200 studied mothers 81% (n=162) completely immunized their children and 19% (n=38) partially immunized them. Seventy-seven percent of studied sample were from urban, while the rest were from rural town. Paramedical workers were the main source of information to respondents of completely immunized children (88.28%) followed by T.V, posters and symposia, while community leaders and doctors were found to be a lesser source. Concerning the effect of the education status of the mothers the percentage of complete immunization was 71.41% for highly educated mothers while for the illiterates it was 88.23% but, the difference was not statistically significant. The mother's work did not affect the child's immunization status as 79.45% of working mothers completed their children's immunization. The child's health and sickness was the most common cause for cessation of immunization, followed by non availability of the vaccine, social reasons and forgetfulness (54%, 20.%, 10,5% and 5.5%) respectively Only 10% of the mothers failed to report a reason for not immunizing their children. Conclusion: The child's gender, education, residence and job of the mother did not affect the pattern of immunization, while negative attitude (mothers afraid from vaccination) significantly affected the immunization status. This signifies the incomplete knowledge and inappropriate practice of the people. Extra effort is need to raise the knowledge and break the old beliefs of the people. Appropriate information dissemination, aggressive campaigning and family involvement are crucial to the success of the programme. Keywords: Immunization , knowledge, attitude , practice, child, mothers Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2011;9(1):29-34