Mothers' Knowledge and Attitude towards Childhood Immunization in Aseer Region, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Background: Childhood vaccination is crucial for child safety and physical well-being. Despite immunization being essential, some parents, even those whose children were given most of the recommended vaccines, exhibit concerns or misperceptions about vaccination. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of the mothers in Aseer region in Soudi Arabia, regarding childhood immunization and factors associated. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted amongst study group comprising of 1058 mothers who have visited a primary health care center in Abha City, Saudi Arabia with at least one child aged six years during the study period from February 2018 to January 2019. The data collection was conducted through interviews and responses were recorded using a pretested structured questionnaire. Results: The study revealed that 54% of the participants had good knowledge about childhood vaccination and 84% knew that vaccines save the children from infectious diseases. However, many mothers had poor knowledge about importance of combined vaccine and contraindications of child vaccination. Most of the mothers (93%) had a positive attitude towards most of the investigated items except early immunization and administration of multiple doses of the vaccine. Mothers who worked in the medical field and had a greater number of children were significantly associated with good knowledge regarding immunization. Conclusions: The study revealed that more than half of the mothers were knowledgeable regarding vaccination and child immunization We concluded that the widespread preventive vaccination system is understood to be a foundation of decent public health.

Automated summary

The study revealed that most mothers have good knowledge and positive attitudes towards childhood vaccination, but lack understanding of the importance of combined vaccines and contraindications. Mothers working in the medical field and with more children were found to have better knowledge regarding immunization.