RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Vaccination of children has played a significant role in reducing early childhood morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases; however, some factors act as deterrents in achieving adequate coverage in this susceptible population. AIMS & OBJECTIVES: The study, therefore, aimed to identify vaccine-related determinants of childhood vaccination as well as determine the relationship between childhood vaccination status and body weight, height, and a child's body mass index (BMI). METHODS: The study was conducted using a cross-sectional design in which 608 caregiver-child pair was recruited sequentially by using a two-stage sampling technique. Structured questionnaires based on the SAGE vaccine hesitancy model were used to interview the participants. Elicited data was analyzed and categorical variables were presented in tables and charts as frequencies, while a chi-square test was used to test the association between the independent and dependent variables. Pearson's correlation analysis was also done to determine the correlation between vaccination status and weight, height, and BMI of children. RESULTS: The study showed that vaccination coverage was suboptimal (70.56%) in children and was below the expected target of 80%. Although a few (183, 30.10%) of the respondents claimed they would prevent the vaccination of their children due to the fear of needles, the majority (87.50%) will be willing to accept more vaccine doses for their children if there were no pain. While factors such as the experience of adverse reaction (X2 = 13.22, df = 2, p<0.001), crying from pain (X2 = 11.33, df = 2, p<0.001) and the scientific evidence of safety (X2 = 34.63, df = 2, p<0.001) were significantly associated with a complete vaccination status, vaccination status was positively correlated with the weight (r=0.160, p<0.001), height (r=0.081, p=0.023) and BMI (r=0.214, p<0.001) of children in the rural community. CONCLUSION: Vaccination uptake and coverage can be significantly improved in children by designing and implementing interventional programs that target pharmaceutical and vaccine-specific factors acting as barriers in these rural communities.