Abstract
Objective: This study aims to explore vaccine information-seeking behavior and its determinants among pregnant women in Khartoum state, Sudan. The findings from this study will be used to inform further development of policies and interventions in Sudan to increase vaccine acceptance and demand.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in two public hospitals, Omdurman maternity and AL-Saudi hospitals in Omdurman, Khartoum state, from February to April 2020.Results: We interviewed 350 pregnant women in the two hospitals. Our findings showed that one-third of pregnant women (35.7%) searched for information about vaccines. The vast majority searched for this information before pregnancy and during pregnancy (34.4 and 59.2%, respectively). They primarily searched for topics related to vaccine schedules and vaccine side effects (28.8% for each). The main sources of vaccine-related information consumed by pregnant women were healthcare professionals, particularly doctors (40%), and the internet (20.8%). Findings showed that a high level of education was associated with a greater likelihood of searching for additional vaccine information. Moreover, those who perceived their family to have a high income were more likely to search for information. Additionally, pregnant women with low confidence in vaccines were more likely to be involved in searching for additional vaccine information. This highlights the need for high-quality, easily accessible information that addresses their needs.Conclusion: Our findings showed that confidence in vaccine influences seeking for relevant information. We recommend the development of client-centered communication interventions to help increasing vaccine confidence and consequently vaccine acceptance and demand.
Highlights
Health awareness is the first step in the process of promoting healthy behavior [1]
We found that vaccine information-seeking behavior was highly associated with the education level of the pregnant women, as mothers with secondary were more likely to search for additional information followed by those who reported University education (p-value
Vaccine information-seeking behavior increased with the increase in income level of pregnant women’s household (p-value = 0.016)
Summary
Health awareness is the first step in the process of promoting healthy behavior [1]. Health information can be actively sought or passively received from various sources. Studies from high-income countries showed that most people seek information about vaccines from the internet [5,6,7]. Vaccine information-seeking behavior has been studied extensively in high-income countries. The scarcity of official trusted sources for vaccine information encouraged academic institutions to initiate web-based interventions such as the Tat3im Initiative website (Tat3im means immunization in the Arabic language). It is a Sudanese website which is a member of the WHO-led project VSN [9] and aims to increase the awareness and literacy of vaccines, immunization, and vaccine-preventable diseases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
