Role of Information Sources in Vaccination Uptake: Insights From a Cross-Sectional Household Survey in Sierra Leone, 2019

Kulkarni, Shibani; Sengeh, Paul; Eboh, Victor A; Jalloh, Mohammad B; Conteh, Lansana; Sesay, Tom; Ibrahim, Ngobeh; Manneh, Pa Ousman; Kaiser, Reinhard; Jinnai, Yuka; Wallace, Aaron S.; Prybylski, Dimitri; Jalloh, Mohamed F.

doi:10.9745/ghsp-d-21-00237

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Sierra Leone, where 77% of the population is Muslim and 22% is Christian, religious leaders have long been involved in mobilising communities and raising awareness on childhood immunisation [ 44 , 45 ]. This approach has been supported by findings from a previous study in Sierra Leone that observed a higher immunisation confidence and uptake among those who received related information from faith leaders [ 46 ]. The findings of the present survey highlight the continued call for involving religious and other influential community leaders in health interventions to promote immunisation uptake.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Immunisation coverage and factors associated with incomplete immunisation in children under two during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone

Wassenaar,

Fombah,

Chen

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Routine childhood immunisation is one of the most important life-saving public health interventions. However, many children still have inadequate access to these vaccines and millions remain (partially) unvaccinated globally. As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health systems worldwide, its effects on immunisation have become apparent. This study aimed to estimate routine immunisation coverage among children under two in Sierra Leone and to identify factors associated with incomplete immunisation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in three districts in Sierra Leone: Bombali, Tonkolili and Port Loko. A three-stage cluster sampling method was followed to enrol children aged 10–23 months. Information regarding immunisation status was based on vaccination cards or caretaker’s recall. Using WHO’s definition, a fully immunised child received one BCG dose, three oral polio vaccine doses, three pentavalent vaccine doses and one measles-containing vaccine dose. Following the national schedule, full immunisation status can be achieved at 9 months of age. Data were weighted to reflect the survey’s sampling design. Associations between incomplete immunisation and sociodemographic characteristics were assessed through multivariable logistic regression. Results A total of 720 children were enrolled between November and December 2021. Full vaccination coverage was estimated at 65.8% (95% CI 60.3%-71.0%). Coverage estimates were highest for vaccines administered at birth and decreased with doses administered subsequently. Adjusting for age, the lowest estimated coverage was 40.7% (95% CI 34.5%-47.2%) for the second dose of the measles-containing vaccine. Factors found to be associated with incomplete immunisation status were: living in Port Loko district (aOR = 3.47, 95% CI = 2.00-6.06; p-value < 0.001), the interviewed caretaker being Muslim (aOR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.25–3.02; p-value = 0.015) and the interviewed caretaker being male (aOR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.03–3.59, p-value = 0.039). Conclusion Though full immunisation coverage at district level improved compared with pre-pandemic district estimates from 2019, around one in three surveyed children had missed at least one basic routine vaccination and over half of eligible children had not received the recommended two doses of a measles-containing vaccine. These findings highlight the need to strengthen health systems to improve vaccination uptake in Sierra Leone, and to further explore barriers that may jeopardise equitable access to these life-saving interventions.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Immunisation coverage and factors associated with incomplete immunisation in children under two during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone

Wassenaar,

Fombah,

Chen

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Participants with one (p-value < 0.001), or two to three (p-value = 0.032) sources of information on COVID-19 vaccines were less likely to take vaccines as compared to participants with more than three sources of information on COVID-19 vaccine. Comparably, an analysis by Kulkarni et al [22] revealed that increased access to multiple sources of information was linked to high rates of vaccine uptake thereby suggesting that acquiring information from varied sources can potentially impact vaccination behaviours and further affecting vaccine uptake rates.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using machine learning algorithms to predict COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A year after the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana

Dodoo,

Hanson-Yamoah,

Adedia

et al. 2024

Vaccine: X

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…18 In Sierra Leone, vaccine confidence was highest among those who received immunization information from faith leaders. 19 Constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM) are beneficial in understanding, analyzing, and predicting the acceptance of health-promoting behaviors like vaccinations. 20 The HBM is a value expectancy theory postulating that an individual's desire to prevent an illness (value) and one's belief that a specific health action available would prevent or ameliorate illness (expectancy) is predictive of specific health behaviors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring SARS-CoV-2 vaccine acceptance in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe

Ssentongo,

Kinyok,

Gemi

et al. 2024

han-j-cjgh

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background & Aims. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused millions of deaths worldwide, making the uptake of effective vaccines critical to saving lives. In Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, both supply- and demand-side challenges have made high rates of vaccination difficult to achieve. The current study seeks to describe vaccination rates and reasons for vaccine hesitancy in both Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Methods. The current study uses data that came from a cross sectional survey that was conducted face to face in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. This study uses frequency statistics, chi-square test statistics, and multivariate regression analysis to describe and explore differences between the two countries. The Health Belief Model was used as a framework for sorting and understanding findings. Results and Conclusions. This study reveals that vaccine uptake was much lower in Sierra Leone than in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans were almost twice as likely as Sierra Leoneans to be vaccinated while Sierra Leoneans were significantly more likely to believe the vaccine was risky. Individuals who were older, from Zimbabwe, and were healthcare workers or community leaders were more likely to be vaccinated. Those who were from Zimbabwe, had secondary or tertiary education, and were community leaders were more likely to be concerned about catching COVID-19 than community members. Faith leaders were less likely to be concerned about catching COVID-19 in public. These findings add to our understanding of attitudes that lead to vaccine hesitancy and uptake.

show abstract

Role of Information Sources in Vaccination Uptake: Insights From a Cross-Sectional Household Survey in Sierra Leone, 2019

Cited by 11 publications

References 50 publications

Immunisation coverage and factors associated with incomplete immunisation in children under two during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone

Immunisation coverage and factors associated with incomplete immunisation in children under two during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone

Using machine learning algorithms to predict COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A year after the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana

Exploring SARS-CoV-2 vaccine acceptance in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About