AUTHOR=Danso Samuel E. , Frimpong Augustina , Seneadza Nana A. H. , Ofori Michael F. 

TITLE=Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1230492

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1230492

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Immunization remains one of the most cost-effective health interventions. However, there are still issues of vaccine hesitancy especially in caregivers who are required to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases. This thwarts the overall vaccine coverage in disease-endemic areas like sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, to determine the factors that promote vaccine hesitancy in caregivers, this study, sought to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi, a sub-metro of Accra in Ghana.A cross-sectional study on childhood immunization was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of caregivers. One hundred and twenty caregivers with infants aged twelve (12) months to twenty-three (23) months were interviewed with a structured questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended queries.From the community, infants whose caregivers had adhered completely to immunization constituted 53.3% whilst the rest were partially immunized. The two main deterrents to complete immunization were time constraints (25.8%) and forgetfulness (17.5%). It was observed that vaccination uptake and maternal level of education, as well as vaccination adverse reaction did not impact the completion of the EPI program by these caregivers. Unfortunately, it was noted that caregivers with higher education levels were unable to complete their vaccination schedules due to their busy work schedules. Nonetheless, according to all the respondents, the main deterrent to adhering to complete childhood immunization was poor maternal knowledge (58%).The study revealed although the caregivers in the community had moderate knowledge of vaccination and its benefits, strict adherence was not observed. Partial or incomplete vaccination was associated with their lack of knowledge of vaccination schedules. Since the main source of information with regards to immunization in the sub-metro was through the antenatal and postnatal child welfare clinics' we recommend an improvement in this informal form of education as they are saving the lives of children in the community.