Utilization of Immunization Services by Childbearing Mothers in Enugu State, Nigeria

Implications for Health Communication

Abstract

The study determined the utilization of immunization services among child bearing mothers in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state. Three specific objectives with three corresponding research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. Research design was descriptive survey. The study population comprised of 6,400 CBM in Nsukka LGA. A sample of 380 Child Bearing Mothers (CBMs) was drawn using Taro Yamane formula. The researchers designed questionnaire-Utilization of Immunization Services Among Child bearing Mothers Questionnaire (UISACBMQ) was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by research experts. 279 copies of the instrument were correctly filled and used for data analysis using SPSS version 22 software. Frequencies and percentages were used to answer the research questions while chi-square statistic was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of significance and at appropriate degree of freedom. Results showed that there was effective utilization of all the immunization services by the childbearing mothers except for tetanus toxoid which showed low utilization especially among respondents with no formal education (43.3%) and those with parity status of seven and above (48.7%). However, there was no significant difference in the utilization of immunization services based on level of education (ᵪ2 = 9.140, p = .353>.05), age (ᵪ2=6.635, p=.344>.05) and parity (ᵪ2 =5.693; p=.376 >.05). This implies that there is need to make use of both traditional and modern means of communication to reach the target population so as to achieve immunization target of 80 per cent coverage. It was therefore recommended among other things that health education and communication on the need for adequate utilization of immunization should be conducted by health educators and other health professionals regularly at the health facilities and communities for childbearing mothers and other stakeholders in the community.