Effect of mobile phone reminders in the timeliness of administration of pentavalent vaccines to children in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

Immunization has over the last three decades significantly reduced the rate of under-five children mortality from vaccine preventable disease. However, many children especially in low- and middle-income countries still do not get vaccinated with age-appropriate vaccines. This study to examined the effectiveness of mobile phone reminders in the timeliness of the administration of pentavalent vaccines. The study utilized SMS and follow-up calls to remind mothers about the immunization schedule of their children. The reminders were sent to  the mothers 3 days to and on the due date of their child's schedule for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses of pentavalent vaccine. Both mothers who received the reminders (reminder group) and those who did not (control group) were then tracked in focal health facilities to see if they get their children vaccinated on time.  A total of 541 mothers (271 in the reminder group and 270 in the control group) participated in the study. The proportion of children immunized with the three doses of pentavalent vaccines in time was significantly higher (P = 0.001) in the reminder group (n=102, 37.6%) compared to those in the control group (n=63, 23.3%). It was concluded that although mobile phone reminder was found to be effective in increasing the timeliness of the pentavalent vaccines in the studied population, the rate of timeliness was still low. There is therefore, a need for further studies to explore innovative and technological approaches to increase the timeliness of routine childhood immunization.