Protective doses of tetanus toxoid immunization and its associated factors among mothers in southern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

The World Health Organization recommends tetanus toxoid immunization before or during pregnancy for all women of childbearing age. The goal is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality due to tetanus. According to the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) report, more than half (51%) of women did not receive protective doses of tetanus immunization. To the best of our knowledge, this study uniquely tried to assess the level of protective doses of tetanus toxoid immunization in southern Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 580 randomly selected participants. Variable with p-value of less than .25 in the bivariate analysis were included in the multivariable logistic regression analysis. Finally, statistical significance was declared at a p-value of less than .05. The proportion of protective doses of tetanus toxoid immunization uptake in the area was found to be 41.9% (95% CI: 38–46%). Being enrolled in formal education [AOR = 6.55, 95% CI: 3.23–9.01], having at least two postnatal care visits [AOR = 3.82; 95% CI: 1.78–6.40], having at least four antenatal care visits [AOR = 2.56; 95% CI: 1.41–4.34], and being visited by Health Extension Workers [AOR = 2.66; 95% CI: 1.42–4.01] were found to be factors enhancing the uptake of protective doses of tetanus toxoid immunization. Generally, the uptake or prevalence of the protective doses of tetanus toxoid immunization in the area was lower than the World Health Organization’s target. Therefore, all responsible bodies, including healthcare providers, need to strengthen counseling mothers to enhance the uptake of tetanus toxoid immunization.

KEYWORDS:

• Protective doses
• tetanus toxoid
• immunization
• mothers
• southern Ethiopia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contribution

MG and TW conceived, designed, and wrote this research article. MG also participated in analysis and final write up of this article. WG participated in analysis and original manuscript draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Arba Minch University College of Medicine and Health Sciences approved the study’s ethical clearance, with the reference number IRB/182/12. This research follows the declaration of Helsinki for human participants study. A written informed consent was obtained from each study participant after a detailed explanation of the components of ethical issue. Participants aged less than 18 y were interviewed after obtaining informed consent from their parents or guardians.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.