Is age at commencement of infant immunization a significant determinant of uptake in Nigeria?

Abstract

Various studies have identified different factors as determinants of immunization uptake. This study set out to evaluate effect of the age at commencement of immunization on immunization uptake in Nigerian children. A retrospective review of data collected during an immunization
coverage survey using standard WHO/EPI two stage cluster sampling technique. Only 68(54.0%) of 126 children commenced immunization in the first two weeks of life. Of these, 86.8% completed their immunization compared to 57.5% of those who commenced immunization after 28days of
life. This difference was significant (p<0.01). The mean age at  commencement of immunization was significantly lower in those who completed the immunization series (22.0±31.9 days) compared to those who did not (62.0 ±73.6) p<0.001. Efforts should be made to encourage early
commencement of immunization in Nigerian children.

Key words: age, commencement, immunization uptake