Effect of Maternal Literacy on Immunization Completeness in Children Under 2 Years of Age – Karachi, Pakistan

Authors

  • Usman Saeed
  • Asra Saeed
  • Sandia Matani
  • Iram Shahzadi
  • Hooriya Saeed
  • Fareeha Shahid

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51985/JBUMDC202206

Keywords:

Children, Immunization, Literacy, Maternal Education, Vaccination

Abstract

Objective: To assess the association of different levels of education with complete immunization in children under 2 years of age.

 

Study Design and Setting: The study was cross sectional analytical and was carried by online survey of mothers living in Karachi. The study was conducted through a period of 4 months from May 2021 to August 2021.

 

Methodology: The sample size of 270 mothers was calculated using a 95% Confidence Level and using the Epi Info Application. The data was collected using a closed-ended online questionnaire via Google Forms. Due to the COVID – 19 pandemic, the questionnaires had to be distributed online. The data was analyzed using SPSS V23. The statistical test used was Fisher Exact Test to determine whether or not the relationship between maternal education and immunization rate was significant. .

 

Results: A total of 270 responses were recorded from mothers of various socio-economic statuses. It was observed that as the level of education increased from no formal education to a higher level of education, the percentage of children completely vaccinated increased from 76.9% to 92.7%. Upon statistical testing using Fisher Exact Test, the p-value was found to be 0.017 which is less than the alpha value of 0.05 showing that the relationship between the 2 variables is significant.

 

Conclusion: The study had shown that the children of mothers with a higher level of education were associated with a higher likelihood of being fully vaccinated than children of mothers with a lower level of education.

References

Vaccines and immunization [Internet]. [cited 2021 Mar 10].

Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/vaccinesand-immunization#tab=tab_1

WHO EMRO | Expanded Programme on Immunization |

Programmes | Pakistan [Internet]. [cited 2021 Mar 10].

Available from: http://www.emro.who.int/ pak/programmes/

expanded-programme-on-immunization.html

Immunization Schedule – Expanded Program on Immunization, Pakistan [Internet]. [cited 2021 Mar 28]. Available from:

http://www.epi.gov.pk/immunisation-schedule/

Balogun SA, Yusuff HA, Yusuf KQ, Al-Shenqiti AM, Balogun

MT, Tettey P. Maternal education and child immunization:

the mediating roles of maternal literacy and socioeconomic

status. Pan Afr Med J [Internet]. 2017 Apr 24 [cited 2022 Apr

;26. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC5491723/

Saeed R, Hashmi I. Pakistan Ranks Third Globally With the

Most Unvaccinated Children: Is the Impact of Parental

Perception and Attitude on Immunization an Essential

Contributing Factor to an Unsuccessful Vaccination Coverage?

Cureus [Internet]. 2021 Nov 19;

Oleribe O, Kumar V, Awosika-Olumo A, Taylor-Robinson

SD. Individual and socioeconomic factors associated with

childhood immunization coverage in Nigeria. Pan Afr Med

J. 2017 Apr;26(220).

Noh JW, Kim YM, Akram N, Yoo KB, Park J, Cheon J, et al.

Factors affecting complete and timely childhood immunization

coverage in Sindh, Pakistan; A secondary analysis of crosssectional survey data. PLoS One [Internet]. 2018;13(10):

e0206766. Available from: https://journals. plos.org/plosone/

article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206766

Khan MT, Zaheer S, Shafique K. Maternal education,

empowerment, economic status and child polio vaccination

uptake in Pakistan: A population based cross sectional study.

BMJ Open [Internet]. 2017 Mar 1 [cited 2021 Mar 10];7(3):

Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ bmjopen-

-013853

Pakistan | Data [Internet]. [cited 2022 Apr 23]. Available

from: https://data.worldbank.org/country/pakistan

Pakistan | UNESCO UIS [Internet]. [cited 2021 Sep 12].

Available from: http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/pk

Literacy rate | UNESCO UIS [Internet]. [cited 2021 Sep 12].

Available from: http://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/literacyrate

Mehmood S, Hussain M. Females Higher Education in

Pakistan: An Analysis of Socio-Economic and Cultural

Challenges. Artic Adv Soc Sci Res J [Internet]. 2018 [cited

Sep 13]; Available from: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.14738/

assrj.56.4658.

OpenEpi - Toolkit Shell for Developing New Applications

[Internet]. [cited 2022 Apr 23]. Available from: https://www.

openepi.com/SampleSize/SSPropor.htm

Riaz A, Husain S, Yousafzai MT, Nisar I, Shaheen F, Mahesar

W, et al. Reasons for non-vaccination and incomplete

vaccinations among children in Pakistan. Vaccine. 2018 Aug

;36(35):5288–93.

Johri M, Subramanian S V, Sylvestre M-P, Dudeja S, Chandra

D, Koné GK, et al. Association between maternal health

literacy and child vaccination in India: a cross-sectional study.

J Epidemiol Community Heal [Internet]. 2015; Available

from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2014-205436

Gilbert NL, Gilmour H, Wilson SE, Cantin L. Human Vaccines

& Immunotherapeutics ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal

homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/khvi20

Determinants of non-vaccination and incomplete vaccination

in Canadian toddlers Determinants of non-vaccination and

incomplete vaccination in Canadian toddlers. 2017; Available

from: https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2016.1277847

Bukhsh A, Rehman H, Mallhi H, Ata H, Rehman U, Lee LH, et al. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics Parents’

attitude, awareness and behaviour towards influenza

vaccination in Pakistan Parents’ attitude, awareness and

behaviour towards influenza vaccination in Pakistan. 2018;

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/ 21645515.2017.

Zeb H. Assessment of Immunization Status in Children in

District Swat KPK, Pakistan. A Cross Sectional Study. SSRN

Electron J [Internet]. 2019 Nov 1 [cited 2021 Aug 14];

Available from: https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3315848

Butt M, Mohammed R, Butt E, Butt S, Xiang J. Why Have

Immunization Efforts in Pakistan Failed to Achieve Global

Standards of Vaccination Uptake and Infectious Disease

Control? Risk Manag Healthc Policy [Internet]. 2020 [cited

Aug 14];13:111. Available from: /pmc/articles/

PMC7024803/

Jung M. The effect of maternal decisional authority on

children’s vaccination in East Asia. PLoS One [Internet].

Jul 1 [cited 2022 Apr 23];13(7):e0200333. Available

from: https://journals.plos.org/ plosone/article?id=

1371/journal.pone.0200333

Özer M, Fidrmuc J, Eryurt MA. Maternal education and

childhood immunization in Turkey. Health Econ [Internet].

Aug;27(8):1218–29. Available from: https://onlinelibrary

.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.3770

Acharya K, Raj Paudel Y, Dharel D. The trend of full

vaccination coverage in infants and inequalities by wealth

quintile and maternal education: analysis from four recent

demographic and health surveys in Nepal. Available from:

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7995-3

G H, R D, M F. Maternal Education Is Inversely Related to

Vaccination Delay among Infants and Toddlers. J Pediatr

[Internet]. 2019 Feb 1 [cited 2021 Aug 13];205:120-125.e2.

Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30340931/

ML B, BF C, LE P, AL W. Socioeconomic factors associated

with full childhood vaccination in Bangladesh, 2014. Int J

Infect Dis [Internet]. 2018 Apr 1 [cited 2021 Aug 13];69:35–40.

Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29421667/

Yousuf Nour T, Farah AM, Ali OM, Osman MO, Aden MA,

Abate KH. Predictors of immunization coverage among 12-

month old children in Ethiopia: systematic review and

meta-analysis. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-

-09890-0

Downloads

Published

2024-04-25

How to Cite

Saeed, U. ., Saeed, A. ., Matani, S. ., Shahzadi, I. ., Saeed, H. ., & Shahid, F. . (2024). Effect of Maternal Literacy on Immunization Completeness in Children Under 2 Years of Age – Karachi, Pakistan. Journal of Bahria University Medical and Dental College, 14(02), 150–154. https://doi.org/10.51985/JBUMDC202206

Issue

Section

Student Corner - Original Article