Influence of Community-Based Interventions on Routine Immunization Uptake among Children Under Five Years in Ntungamo District-Uganda
Abstract:
Evidence of the effectiveness of community-based
interventions in improving immunization coverage in populations of low coverage
is limited. Vaccine-preventable diseases is a major public health challenge in low-income
countries where Uganda lies, and immunization is the only reliable strategy for
child survival. The study's objective was to assess the influence of a
community-based intervention on the uptake of immunization services to
recommend strategies to health stakeholders to improve immunization coverage. A
quasi-experimental study was conducted in three phases. Structured and key informant
interviews were used as data collection tools. Phase one provided baseline data
before the intervention, the second phase was a community-based intervention, and
the third phase was post-intervention evaluation. There was no significant difference
on the uptake of BCG, POLIO-0, POLIO-1, POLIO-2, DPTHeP-Hib1, DPTHeP-Hib2, PCV1
and PCV2 immunizations between the intervention and control group post-intervention
(P= 1.00, α =0.5). The level of knowledge on immunization was 68.8% and 29.6% in
the intervention and control groups, respectively. The difference between the two
was statistically significant (P=0.00 = α= 0.5). There was a significant
association between the level of knowledge of the caregivers on immunization and
the uptake of immunization services (P=0.00, α=0.5). There was also a statistically
significant difference in immunization coverage between the intervention and control
groups (97.5%) and (75.1%) for the intervention and control groups, respectively.
The difference was statistically associated with the community-based intervention
(P =0.00, α=0.5). Community-based interventions influenced the uptake of routine
immunization services.
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