COMPLETE IMMUNIZATION COVERAGE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG CHILDREN AGED 12–23 MONTHS IN DEBRE TABOR TOWN, NORTH WEST ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Abstract Background: Globally around 2.5 million children under five years of age die every year due to vaccine-preventable diseases. Immunization is the most effective and economical health interventions to reduce vaccine-preventable diseases. Still, immunization coverage in Ethiopia is low and needs further investigation. Objective: The aim of this study was to asses complete immunization coverage and associated factors among children aged 12–23 months in Debre Tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: Community based cross-sectional study was conducted among children aged 12– 23 months from March 1 IX

st to March 30 th , 2019 at Debre Tabor town. Two-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select 824 pairs of mothers to children from the study households. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data was entered to Epi info version 7.2.0.1 and exported to SPSS window version 20 for analysis. Binary and Multivariable logistic regression was fitted to identify the association between dependent and independent variables. Odds Ratios with 95% Confidence interval and P-value ? 0.05 was considered to assert significance. Result: A total of 824 mothers/caretakers were interviewed and almost all of the children took at least a single dose of vaccine. The complete immunization coverage was 80.2% with (95% CI: [77.5, 83%]). The odd of complete immunization was; 6 times higher among mothers who gave birth at health facility than at home (AOR 6.29 [95% CI: 2.21, 17.96]), who had planned pregnancy were 4 times higher to completely immunize their children than who did not (AOR 4.08 [95% CI: 2.20, 7.55]). Mothers those who had home visit by health workers were 3 folds higher than who did not (AOR 3.37 [95% CI: 2.13, 5.33]). Mothers who had good knowledge were 3 times higher to completely immunize their children than those with poor knowledge (AOR 3.48[95%CI: 2.25, 5.38]). Conclusion: The prevalence of complete immunization coverage was found to be low among children aged 12–23 months compared to Ethiopia 2019/20 target. Mothers who deliver at health facility, who had planned pregnancy, home visit by health workers and knowledge of mother on immunization were associated factors. Promoting institutional delivery and improving mother?s knowledge on child immunization intend to be strengthened. Keywords: Complete immunization coverage, Children, Debre Tabor town, Ethiopia