Association of Educational Status of Mothers and Incomplete Immunization in Children

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association of educational status of mothers and incomplete immunization in children presented at Tertiary Care Hospital, Karachi.

Methods: This Case-control study was conducted at Pediatric department, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi; from July 2018 to January 2019. The data were prospectively collected from 434 subjects with consent out of which 217 had an incomplete vaccination status and 217 had completed vaccination status. Case group included unvaccinated children whose mothers were uneducated (mothers were labeled un-educated who were never enrolled in school, madrasa and received primary education), whereas control group included vaccinated children whose mothers were educated (mothers were labeled educated who were enrolled in school, madrasa and received primary education).Quantitative data were presented as simple descriptive statistics giving mean and standard deviation and qualitative variables were presented as frequency and percentages. Chi-square test was applied to compare both groups and the odds ratio was calculated. Effect modifiers were controlled through stratification to see the effect of these on the outcome variable. Using post-stratification chi-square test, a p-value of ?0.05 was considered as significant.

Results: A total of 434 (217 cases and 217 controls) were included in this study. The mean age was 3.27±1.79 years (case) and 3.49±1.40 years (controls). Educational status of mothers was assessed verbally. Uneducated mothers are defined as those who did not receive formal education of any level, while educated mothers are defined as those who were enrolled in school or madarsa and received primary education or more.  On the basis of which the uneducated mothers in case group were 144 (66.4%) while in control group was 52 (24%).Children with incomplete immunization were 6.25 times more likely to have uneducated mothers than those with complete immunization, after controlling for the other factors.

Conclusion: This study has strengthened the value of maternal education in context of complete childhood immunization because acquisition of literacy and health-seeking behavior enhance vaccine uptake for their children.