Background: Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop protection from a disease. It is the most cost-effective mechanism for disease prevention that allows people to have better protection from specific bacteria and viruses. Objective: The goal of the research is to determine mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards child immunization. Methods: In the framework of a cross-sectional study, 188 mothers with children from three to five years of age, were surveyed in 7 kindergartens of Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia). The semi-structured questionnaire was administered in a face-to-face manner. Results: The majority of interviewed mothers (97%) showed a positive attitude towards immunization and believe that vaccination plays an important role in disease prevention. 32% do not have sufficient information about the routine vaccination schedule and subsequently, 36% of children have incomplete vaccination. The reasons for incomplete vaccination are: a lack of knowledge about a routine vaccination schedule (25.5%), limited information about the necessity of the second or the third dose of vaccination (18.6%), fear of post-vaccination side effects (16%) and fear of a child illness (9.6%). A significant association was found between mothers’ education, practice and attitude regarding immunization. Health institutions (49.5%) and internet sources (21.3%) were the most popular sources of information about immunization. Conclusion: Incomplete immunization is related to mother’s lack of information about the immunization schedules, limited awareness about the second and the third dose of vaccination, and it is also related to fear of child getting sick after the vaccination. Some respondents believe that vaccination is not safe and can cause serious side effects. But the majority of mothers have a positive attitude towards child immunization, but their levels of awareness are very low and they do not have comprehensive information about a routine vaccination schedule. It is necessary to raise public awareness of the importance of immunization by implementing educational programs and by traditional and social media.
Background. An adequate primary healthcare system substantially determines the quality of health of the population and effective spending of healthcare resources. The family physician, serving as a 'gatekeeper', can make judicious decisions about the appropriate use of medical services. Objectives. The goal of this study was to find out patients' characteristics, preferences and behaviour in regard to the role of the family physician as a gatekeeper in the Republic of Georgia. Material and methods. As part of a cross-sectional quantitative study, respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Results. A majority of the respondents (53.7%, n = 245) had a permanent family physician, but were not satisfied with the level of the family physician's professionalism (56.6%, n = 258) and preferred self-referral to specialists (55%, n = 253). Only 19.5% (n = 89) referred to specialists upon the family physician's advice, who would coordinate all services, and 23% (n = 103) have used both family physicians and self-referral. Private health insurance companies were more interested in implementing cost reducing mechanisms rather than the Social Service Agency (which is responsible for the Universal Health Care Programme). Conclusions. It is appropriate to share private health insurance experiences for developing the model of a gatekeeper in the UHCP. In order to improve a family physician institute and increase confidence in it, it is recommended to raise the level of family physicians' skills in their relations with patients, as this has a significant effect on patient preferences. It is advisable to develop a flexible and voluntary gatekeeper model which will better suit the needs of both patients and physicians.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.