Main Article Content

Effect of peer education on knowledge, attitude and completeness of childhood routine immunization in a rural community of Plateau State


M.E. Banwat
L.A. Lar
I.A. Abok
E.S. Yiltok

Abstract

Objectives: Routine immunization in rural settings is usually accessed at the Primary Health Care centers. However, lack of completion of initiated vaccination, is an ongoing challenge. This has been attributed to the poor knowledge and inappropriate attitudes of caregivers to routine immunization. This study set out to access the effect of peer education on knowledge, attitude and completeness of routine immunization, in North-Central Nigeria.

Methods: The study was conducted in two rural communities in north-central Nigeria. Mother-Child pairs were sampled using multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using questionnaires preand post-intervention of peer education. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant and logistic regression was used to assess predictive factors for good knowledge.

Results: The mean age of the respondents was 27.25 + 6.69 years in the study group and 29.39 + 7.71 years in the control group. Majority of the respondents in both study (61.95) and control groups (54.1%) were aged between 20 and 29 years of age and had attained secondary level of education. The mean knowledge scores in the intervention community improved significantly post-intervention from 3.39 to 5.10 (out of 8 scores). Highest predictors for good knowledge in this study were maternal age 30 – 39 years (p = 0.020). Mean attitudinal score in the study group increased significantly from 4.17 preintervention to 5.16 post-intervention. The proportion of fully immunized children in the study group increased from 57.3% pre-intervention to 70.7% after peer education.

Conclusion: Peer education is an effective way of improving knowledge, attitude and completeness of routine immunization. It should be extensively used by health workers in areas with low immunization coverages.

Keywords: Peer education, immunization, knowledge.


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eISSN: 2467-8252
print ISSN: 2360-7793