Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Pharmacy Practice, Hamdard Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hamdard University, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan
  • 2 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail 81451, Saudi Arabia
  • 3 Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University, 8049 Bodø, Norway
  • 4 Department of Pharmacy Practice, Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan 25200, Pahang, Malaysia
  • 5 Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
  • 6 Department of Oral Biology and Experimental Dental Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Szeged, Tisza Lajos körút 63, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
  • 7 Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu 21300, Malaysia
Children (Basel), 2021 Nov 04;8(11).
PMID: 34828720 DOI: 10.3390/children8111007

Abstract

Immunization is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, with considerable impacts on people's health. Parents' perception of their knowledge, attitude, and satisfaction is an important factor, as they may be targeted by interventions for better immunization coverage. Therefore, this study aimed to assess parents' perceptions in terms of their knowledge, attitude, and satisfaction of the immunization of their children aged less than two years of age, in two cities of Pakistan. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the vicinity of Rawalpindi and Islamabad from March to August 2019. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for the data collection on a convenient sample of parents. The questionnaire was hand-delivered to the parents by data collectors. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis via SPSS version 22. A total of n = 382 respondents were included in the data analysis. Statistically significant differences were found between the parents' knowledge scores and their education levels and monthly incomes (p < 0.05). Parents with master's education degrees and low monthly incomes had significantly better knowledge (p < 0.05). Additionally, 96.85% of the respondents believed that child immunization was important. In addition, more than half of the respondents (57.58%) thought that the affordability of vaccines was a principal factor for delays in immunization. Although the parents' knowledge regarding the immunization of their children was not adequate, they had positive perceptions toward it.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.