Socio-demographic factors associated with childhood immunization uptake in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Immunization is an effective public health intervention for reduction of childhood mortality. The expected target coverage is 90%, however, Nigeria currently has coverage below this target and this has implications for childhood morbidity and mortality. Several reasons may account for this low coverage. The study was carried out to determine the socio-demographic factors associated with immunization completion. METHODS: This is a cross- sectional household survey that utilized multistage sampling technique. Four hundred mothers of children aged 12-24 months randomly selected from four communities were interviewed using structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Data from 383 (95.8%) participants were analysed and only 145 children (37.9%) were fully immunized. The results showed that children of mothers with secondary education or more (OR = 3.45, 95% CI = 2.11, 5.66, p < 0.001), those children whose mothers were married to their fathers (OR = 3.17, 95% CI = 1.39, 7.21, p = 0.006), children born to Christian families (OR = 1.72, CI = 1.07, 2.78, p = 0.026) and those in urban area (OR = 3.89, 95% CI = 2.24, 6.74, p < 0.001) are more likely to complete immunization. CONCLUSION: Improving female education, strengthening at risk mothers, and designing adequate public health interventions to reach families in rural locations can improve immunization uptake.