ABSTRACT
Introduction: wide regional variation in immunization coverage still persists in Nigeria. Full Immunization Coverage (FIC) for more than 80% of all states in the northern region is lower than 40% relative to their southern counterpart. Studies focusing on young women in the north remain sparse, despite the high prevalence of early marriage and poor health-seeking behavior. This study examines FIC among young women in northern Nigeria. Methods: we performed a secondary analysis of the 2013 and 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey on 1,198 women of children aged 12-23 months in 2013 and 405 in the 2018 dataset. Analysis was limited to young women 15-24 years, residing in Northern Nigeria. We used logistics regression to predict factors associated with FIC. Results: the proportion of fully immunized children was low, at 11% in 2013 and 18% in 2018. The coverage for most vaccines was low, except for the oral polio vaccine. The children of mothers who had health card [(aOR=18.1,95% C.I (8.1-40.7)], in 2013 and 2018 [(aOR=12.7, 95% C.I (5.9-27.1)], attended ANC [(aOR=8.6, 95% C.I (2.4-30.9)] in 2013 and had facility delivery [(aOR=2.0, 95% C.I (1.0-4.1)] in 2018 were more likely to be fully immunized. Conclusion: the study found FIC among children of young women in Northern Nigeria was abysmally low. Ownership of health care, antenatal attendance, and facility delivery significantly predicted the odds of FIC. These findings suggest the need for approaches that remove barriers to good health-seeking behavior, especially among young mothers in Northern Nigeria.
