Critical evaluation of factors influencing maternal knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the immunization of their children

Abstract

Objective. The objective of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers regarding the immunization of their children and find out the factors associated with it.M a n u s c r i p t a c c e p t e d f o r p u b l i c a t i o n 2 Materials and Methods. A prospective, cross-sectional study of seven months duration was carried out among 206 mothers, satisfying the inclusion criteria of having at least one child of less than 5 years of age. The socio-demographic details and other relevant information pertaining to the subjects were collected by using the data collection form and newly developed and validated questionnaire. The knowledge, attitude and practice of the subjects were assessed by using suitable statistical methods. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 29.0 was used to analyze the data.Results. The mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores of the total subjects enrolled in the study was found to be 4.17 ± 0.85, 3.61 ± 1.08 and 4.06 ± 0.99 respectively. Age, number of children and occupation were found to be the factors significantly associated with knowledge, attitude and practice levels of the subjects. Conclusions.The findings of the present study may form the basis of all future implications to improve the level of knowledge, attitude and practice towards the immunization of their children, which ultimately contributes to better health outcomes.