Mothers and vaccination: Knowledge, attitudes, and practice in Iran

Abstract

A knowledge, attitude and practice study on vaccination was undertaken among Iranian mothers in pediatric clinic of a university medical center in Tehran, between March and August 2005, and 668 mothers responded to a questionnaire-based interview. The results showed a favorable attitude towards children immunization in 95.5% of respondents. Nearly half (51.4%; 95% confidence interval: 47.6%–55.2%) of mothers knew the name of the diseases against which their children were being vaccinated. More than half (67%) of respondents gave disproportionate importance to mild intercurrent illness as a reason to defer immunization. About half of children (341 = 51.1%) experienced vaccination delay. Results of logistic regression analysis showed increase in: birth order, number of children in household, and mother's age significantly predicted vaccination schedule non-adherence (P = 0.02, P = 0.02 and P = 0.04 to P = 0.001 respectively) and increasing mother's age was the most significant factor for vaccination delay. Educating mothers about the vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases, and improving their performance are recommended.

Keywords

Children - immunization - mothers