Study of knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers of children under 5 years on immunisation status attending a tertiary care hospital: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Childhood Immunization almost guarantees protection from many major diseases. Immunization is regarded as one of the most successful and cost effective public health interventions which averts about 3 million deaths annually and has the potential, if coverage improves, of saving the lives of an additional 1.5 million children annually. To study the knowledge, attitude and practice among the mothers (studied up to class 10th) of children under 5 years regarding immunization status attending a tertiary care hospital during study period. The study was conducted in the department of pediatrics, SCB Medical College, Cuttack from September 2019 to October 2021. It is a cross sectional study. 94.9% mothers had received information from health personnel, 0.9% from family and friends, 1.2% from media or literature and 3.1% from previous births. There is a significant correlation between education and caste and religion with immunization status. 85% of mothers who had studied high school had completely immunized their children, emphasizing the importance of education in immunization. Educated mothers and those who delivered in the hospital have better knowledge, attitude and practice towards immunization. Regular orientation programmes on immunization for women may be arranged by health providers to educate women and share their information to appropriate levels of knowledge of each mother’s understanding to compensate communication gap.