Public Knowledge and Opinion on Childhood Routine Immunizations in Two Major Cities of Anambra State, Nigeria

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Study Participants

Characteristics	Group One	Group Two	Group Three	Group Four	Total
Sex
Male	279 (46.5)	269 (44.8)	330 (55.0)	331 (55.2)	1209 (50.4)
Female	321 (53.5)	331 (55.2)	270 (45.0)	269 (44.8)	1191(49.6)
Age category
≤20 years	31 (5.2)	94 (15.7)	100 (16.7)	97 (16.2)	322 (13.4)
21–30 years	175 (29.2)	208 (34.7)	212 (35.3)	245 (40.8)	840 (35.0)
31–40 years	258 (43.0)	199 (33.2)	128 (21.3)	118 (19.7)	703 (29.3)
41–50 years	120 (20.0)	81 (13.5)	116 (19.3)	98 (16.3)	415 (17.3)
51–60 years	16 (2.7)	18 (3.0)	32 (5.3)	32 (5.3)	98 (4.1)
>60 years	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	12 (2.0)	10 (1.7)	22 (0.9)
Educational status
None	11 (1.8)	10 (1.7)	56 (9.3)	45 (7.5)	122 (5.1)
Primary	0 (0.0)	40 (6.7)	80 (13.3)	90 (15.0)	210 (8.8)
Secondary	57 (9.5)	124 (20.7)	226 (37.7)	258 (43.0)	665 (27.7)
Tertiary	315 (52.5)	272 (45.3)	186 (31.0)	163 (27.2)	936 (39.0)
Postgraduate	217 (36.2)	154 (25.7)	52 (8.7)	44 (7.3)	467 (19.5)
Marital status
Married	552 (92.0)	537 (89.5)	475 (79.2)	477 (79.5)	2041 (85.0)
Widowed	0 (0.0)	12 (2.0)	54 (9.0)	48 (8.0)	114 (4.8)
Separated	11 (1.8)	11 (1.8)	7 (1.2)	12 (2.0)	41 (1.7)
Single	37 (6.2)	40 (6.7)	59 (9.8)	62 (10.3)	198 (8.2)
No response	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	5 (0.8)	1 (0.2)	6 (0.2)
Household monthly income (Naira)
≤100,000	164 (27.3)	307 (51.2)	368 (61.3)	370 (61.7)	1209 (50.4)
101,000 −250,000	294 (49.0)	182 (30.3)	85 (14.2)	112 (18.7)	673 (28.0)
>250,000	142 (23.7)	108 (18.0)	90 (15.0)	65 (10.8)	405 (16.9)
No response	0 (0.0)	3 (0.5)	57 (9.5)	53 (8.8)	113 (4.7)
Housing type
Flat	381 (63.5)	320 (53.3)	236 (39.3)	235 (39.2)	1172 (48.8)
Mini-flat	88 (14.7)	161 (26.8)	199 (33.2)	197 (32.8)	645 (26.9)
Room(s) with shared toilet	11 (1.8)	65 (10.8)	130 (21.7)	125 (20.8)	331 (13.8)
Room(s) with no toilet	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	4 (0.7)	10 (1.7)	14 (0.6)
Others	120 (20.0)	54(9.0)	31 (5.2)	33 (5.5)	238 (9.9)
Religion
Christianity	573 (95.5)	519 (86.5)	515 (85.8)	513 (85.5)	2120 (88.3)
Muslim	27 (4.5)	69 (11.5)	41 (6.8)	48 (8.0)	185 (7.7)
African traditional religion	0 (0.0)	12 (2.0)	33 (5.5)	31 (5.2)	76 (3.2)
Others	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	2 (0.3)	8 (1.3)	10 (0.4)
No response	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	9 (1.5)	0 (0.0)	9 (0.4)
Total	600 (100.0)	600 (100.0)	600 (100.0)	600 (100.0)	2400 (100.0)

Table 2 Knowledge About Childhood Immunization

Characteristics	Group One	Group Two	Group Three	Group Four	Total
Ever heard of child immunization
Yes	587 (97.8)	584 (97.3)	523 (87.2)	521 (86.8)	2215 (92.3)
No	11 (1.8)	5 (0.8)	71 (11.8)	74 (12.3)	161 (6.7)
I do not know	2 (0.3)	11 (1.8)	6 (1.0)	5 (0.8)	24 (1.0)
Initial information source
Formal settings	467 (77.8)	365 (60.8)	263 (43.8)	260 (43.3)	1355 (56.5)
Media	71 (11.8)	66 (11.0)	69 (11.5)	72 (12.0)	278 (11.6)
Health-care worker	44 (7.3)	93 (15.5)	131 (21.8)	103 (17.2)	371 (15.5)
Friend	6 (1.0)	68 (11.3)	64 (10.7)	81 (13.5)	219 (9.1)
Others	0 (0.0)	1 (0.2)	2 (0.3)	0 (0.0)	3 (0.1)
No response	12 (2.0)	7 (1.2)	71 (11.8)	84 (14.0)	174 (7.2)
Why is immunization necessary
To protect from diseases	526 (87.7)	337 (56.2)	230 (38.3)	255 (42.5)	1348 (56.2)
To fulfil parental obligation	9 (1.5)	79 (13.2)	11 (1.8)	9 (1.5)	108 (4.5)
I do not know	8 (1.3)	63 (10.5)	195 (32.5)	163 (27.0)	428 (17.8)
No response	57 (9.5)	121 (20.2)	164 (27.3)	174 (29.0)	516 (21.5)

Figure 1 Relationship between educational status and ability to correctly cite reason for vaccination.

Table 3 Population Opinions on Aspects of Childhood Immunizations

S/N	Opinion	Mean	SD	Remarks
I	Immunization is important during the first year of life	4.1	0.67	Agreed
II	Participating in child immunization is important after the first year of life	4.0	0.75	Agreed
III	I always ensure that my children are fully immunized	3.9	0.79	Agreed
IV	I maintain proper record of my children’s immunization	3.9	0.76	Agreed
V	I actively support childhood immunization in my neighborhood	3.7	0.96	Agreed
VI	I do not immunize my children due to fear of adverse reaction	2.3	0.77	Disagreed
VII	I do not immunize my children because naturally acquired infections provide better protection than vaccination	2.2	0.71	Disagreed
VIII	I readily seek medical attention if my child is noticed to have any vaccination reaction.	4.1	0.71	Agreed

Table 4 Association Between Group/Place of Work and Opinions of Respondents

S/N	Opinion	Chi-squared	Cramer’s V	Assessment
I	Immunization is important during the first year of life	548.32 (p<0.001)	0.276 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate association
II	Participating in child immunization is important the first year of life	419.58 (p<0.001)	0.241 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate association
III	I always ensure that my children are fully immunized	416.80 (p<0.001)	0.241 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate association
IV	I maintain proper record of my children’s immunization	303.92 (p<0.001)	0.206 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak association
V	I actively support childhood immunization in my neighborhood	300.86 (p<0.001)	0.206 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak association
VI	I do not immunize my children due to fear of adverse reaction	430.99 (p<0.001)	0.246 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate association
VII	I do not immunize my children because naturally acquired infections provide better protection than vaccination	443.84 (p<0.001)	0.249 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate association
VIII	I readily seek medical attention when my child is noticed to have any vaccination reaction	293.05 (p<0.001)	0.202 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak association

Figure 2 Agreement with positive (I, II, III, IV, V, VIII) or disagreement with negative (VI, VII) opinions among the groups.

Table 5 Association Between Educational Status and Opinions of Respondents

S/N	Opinion	Chi-squared	Kendall Tau-b	Assessment
I	Immunization is important during the first year of life	691.30 (p<0.001)	0.384 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate positive association
II	Participating in child immunization is important after the first year of life	524.97 (p<0.001)	0.249 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association
III	I always ensure that my children are fully immunized	558.20 (p<0.001)	0.224 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association
IV	I maintain proper record of my children’s immunization	683.84 (p<0.001)	0.299 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate positive association
V	I actively support childhood immunization in my neighborhood	576.37 (p<0.001)	0.117 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association
VI	I do not immunize my children due to fear of adverse reactions	702.38 (p<0.001)	−0.295 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak negative association
VII	I do not immunize my children because naturally acquired infections provide better protection than vaccination	653.66 (p<0.001)	−0.364 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate negative association
VIII	I readily seek for medical attention when my child is noticed to have any vaccination reaction	383.92 (p<0.001)	0.225 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association

Table 6 Association Between Average Income and Opinions of Respondents

S/N	Opinion	Chi-squared	Kendall Tau-b	Assessment
I	Immunization is important during the first year of life	244.67 (p<0.001)	0.289 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate positive association
II	Participating in child immunization is important after the first year of life	170.67 (p<0.001)	0.173 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association
III	I always ensure that my children are fully immunized	105.92 (p<0.001)	0.138 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association
IV	I maintain proper record of my children’s immunization	173.81 (p<0.001)	0.212 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association
V	I actively support childhood immunization in my neighborhood	67.82 (p<0.001)	0.065 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive Association
VI	I do not immunize my children due to fear of adverse reactions	261.64 (p<0.001)	−0.186 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak negative association
VII	I do not immunize my children because naturally acquired infections provide better protection than vaccination	256.58 (p<0.001)	−0.228 (p<0.001)	Significant Moderate negative association
VIII	I readily seek for medical attention when my child is noticed to have any vaccination reaction	80.74 (p<0.001)	0.136 (p<0.001)	Significant Weak positive association

Table 7 Association Between Gender and Opinions of Respondents

S/N	Opinion	Male (Mean ±SD)	Female (Mean ±SD)	p-value
I	Immunization is important during the first year of life	4.1±0.63	4.0±0.70	0.087
II	Participating in child immunization is important after the first year of life	4.0±0.77	3.9±0.72	0.018*
III	I always ensure that my children are fully immunized	3.9±0.78	4.0±0.80	0.002*
IV	I maintain proper record of my children’s immunization	3.9±0.74	3.9±0.78	0.957
V	I actively support childhood immunization in my neighborhood	3.7±0.94	3.7±0.97	0.786
VI	I do not immunize my children due to fear of adverse reaction	2.2±0.80	2.3±0.74	0.637
VII	I do not immunize my children because naturally acquired infections provide better protection than vaccination	2.2±0.73	2.1±0.69	0.045*
VIII	I readily seek for medical attention when my child is noticed to have any vaccination reaction	4.0±0.67	4.1±0.73	<0.001*

Note: *Statistically significant (Student’s t-test).