Immunization of Children;

Abstract

To ascertain the level of awareness and the preliminary understanding about the importance and the practice of immunization of children among the mothers hailing from an adjoining slum area while visiting a nearby tertiary care hospital at Lahore. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: The respondents of this study were the mothers coming from an urban slum area and visiting the pediatrics outpatient department of a nearby tertiary care hospital in Lahore city. Period: May 2016 to July 2016. Methods: 60 mothers of reproductive age and all having children in the ages needing routine immunization coverage through expanded programme on immunization. Convenient sampling technique was adopted to select the respondents. Data was collected through a questionnaire which was filled during face-to-face interview of each voluntary participant. Results: 34.3% respondents had general awareness about immunization of children, and out of them, only 6% mothers had additional understanding of the rationale for the immunization. 45% mothers had only partial awareness about immunization with no understanding of its rationale. 20% respondents had no significant awareness. Overall 10% of all the respondents had the knowledge about the need of booster doses of certain vaccines administered in expanded programme on immunization. The awareness about the names of diseases prevented through the routine and free vaccination programme was associated with the literacy level and socioeconomic status of the responding mothers. Conclusion: Inadequate awareness and basic understanding about immunization was found by this small study conducted among the mothers coming from an adjoining slum area of a tertiary care hospital in Lahore city.