Determinants of Vaccine Hesitancy and Refusal in Children of District Swabi Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Authors

  • Syed Sajid Hussain Shah Ayub Medical College Abbottabad
  • Bibi Aalia KMU Institute of medical sciences, Kohat
  • Mubarak Zeb District Health System, Peshawar
  • Ihsan Ullah Khyber Medical University Peshawar, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37762/jgmds.9-2.176

Keywords:

Vaccination, Vaccine Hesitancy, Vaccine Refusal, Myths

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

The objective of the study was to evaluate factors associated with vaccine hesitancy and refusal at District Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

METHODOLOGY:

This cross-sectional study was conducted at a teaching hospital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa District Swabi over a period of four months. Children between the ages of 9 months to 10 years from the local population admitted to the children ward/daycare centre were included in the study. Parents were inquired about vaccination status and in case of no vaccination or partial vaccination; then the reason was inquired after proper informed consent. Data were collected by using a structured proforma and analyzed using SPSS-24.

RESULTS:

A total of 828 children were included in this study. Out of these 492 (59.4%) were male and 336 (40.6%) were females. Of the total 828 children, 753 (90.9%) were vaccinated up to date, 48 (5.8%) were not vaccinated and 27 (3.3%) were partially vaccinated. Under vaccinated were 75 patients, 52% were left out due to misconception/beliefs, 6% patients were having issues due to living far away, 2.7% patients could not be vaccinated due to presence of other diseases and 37.3% due to lack of knowledge regarding vaccination. A significant correlation was found between the vaccination status of children and aforementioned reasons (p-value ≤0.001).

CONCLUSION:

The most common cause of not vaccinating children with polio vaccines was misconceptions/beliefs and lack of knowledge of the parents.

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Author Biographies

Syed Sajid Hussain Shah, Ayub Medical College Abbottabad

Assistant Professor,
Department of Paediatrics, Ayub Medical College Abbottabad

Bibi Aalia, KMU Institute of medical sciences, Kohat

Assistant Professor,
Department of paediatrics, KMU Institute of medical sciences, Kohat

Mubarak Zeb, District Health System, Peshawar

Senior District Specialist RHC Nahaqi,
District Health System, Peshawar

Ihsan Ullah, Khyber Medical University Peshawar, Pakistan

Associate Professor,
Khyber Medical University Peshawar, Pakistan

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Published

2022-04-06

How to Cite

Shah, S. S. H. ., Aalia, B. ., Zeb, M., & Ullah, I. (2022). Determinants of Vaccine Hesitancy and Refusal in Children of District Swabi Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Journal of Gandhara Medical and Dental Science, 9(2), 65–69. https://doi.org/10.37762/jgmds.9-2.176