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Does maternal health literacy affect childhood vaccination? a study among mothers in Asajaya Sarawak
Lalitha Malar Maniam1, Jeffery Stephen2.
Introduction: Childhood vaccination is proven as the most effective intervention to prevent and reduce children mortality caused by Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD). It is a major public health concern globally as there are still existences of vaccine incompletion. Despite good immunization coverage, outbreaks of VPD are still reported from time to time with serious implications. The aim of this study is to assess the association between maternal health literacy with completion of childhood vaccination. Methods: A cross- sectional study design was conducted among mothers with children aged 5 years and below using a face to face interview questionnaire. Data entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Chi square was used to look for association between two categorical data. Results:Majority of respondents were mother‘s aged 30’s, Malays (76.1 %), completed secondary education (74.8 %) un-employed (63.8 %).Study showed (98.99%) children completed vaccination however (1.01 %) had incomplete vac-cination. There was significant findings on association between maternal education and partner‘s education, main language, employment status and household income with health literacy. The mean health literacy score among the incomplete vaccination group was slightly lower (36.9) compared to the completed vaccination group (39.4). The problematic health literacy was seen at (17.4 %) and the sufficient health literacy was (82.6%). Conclusion: The finding indicated that there is an association between maternal education, partner‘s level of education with health literacy. The health literacy score among those who completed vaccination was slightly higher. Initiatives focusing on maternal health literacy could further improve vaccination completion among children.
Affiliation:
- University Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
- University Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
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Indexation |
Indexed by |
MyJurnal (2021) |
H-Index
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3 |
Immediacy Index
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0.000 |
Rank |
0 |
Indexed by |
Scopus 2020 |
Impact Factor
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CiteScore (0.2) |
Rank |
Q4 (Medicine (all)) |
Additional Information |
SJR (0.144) |
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