INTRODUCTION:

Immunization is one of the most important weapons for protecting individuals and the community from serious diseases. The Department's Immunization team supports the public and health professionals by offering clear, evidence- based information about different diseases, the possible side effects of immunization and available vaccines.¹

Immunization, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent (known as the immunogen).When an immune system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body (non- self), it will orchestrate an immune response, but it can also develop the ability to quickly respond to a subsequent encounter.²

Immunization can be done through various techniques, most commonly vaccination. Vaccines against microorganisms that cause diseases can prepare the body's immune system, thus helping to fight or prevent an infection. The fact that mutations can cause cancer cells to produce proteins or other molecules that are unknown to the body forms the theoretical basis for therapeutic cancer vaccines. Other molecules can be used for immunization as well, for example in experimental vaccines against nicotine or the hormone.³

RESEARCH STUDY:

To assess the knowledge of mother of under five children regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases in selected rural areas.

OBJECTIVES:

· To assess the knowledge of mothers of under five children regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases.

· To associate the finding with selected demographic variables.

METHODOLOGY:

Research approach:

Survey research approach.

Research design:

Non experimental descriptive study design.

Setting of study:

This study was conducted in selected rural area.

Sample:

Mothers of under five children.

Sample size:

60 mothers of under five children

Sampling techniques:

Non probability purposive sampling.

VARIABLES:

Independent variable:

The independent variable in this study was Immunization Schedule and vaccine preventable disease.

Dependent variable:

The dependent variable in this study was knowledge of mothers regarding Immunization Schedule and vaccine preventable diseases.

CRITERIA FOR SAMPLE SELECTION:

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

· Mothers willing to participate in the study.

· Mothers present during data collection.

· Mothers who can speak and understand Marathi /English

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

· Mothers of under five children working/health services/medical professional.

· Mothers of seriously ill under five children.

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION:

The data shall be collected from all the mothers of under five children in the rural area of wardha district. The participants shall be explained about the purpose of the study. Written consent shall be taken before recruiting the subjects for the study. Structured questionnaire shall be given to the participants to collect the data.

ANALYSIS:

Collected data were organized in tabular form for analysis. The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Association is made with the help of T-test, one way ANOVA test. The data is presented in the form of tables and graphs.

RESULT:

The data are based on the objectives of the study. Data presented under the following headings.

SECTION A - Distribution of mother of under five children in selected rural areas with regards to demographic variables:

· Distribution of mother in selected rural areas according to their age in years reveals that 35(58.3%) are between 20-25 years, 19 (31.7%) are in between 26-30 years, 5 (8.3%) are in between 31-35year and 1 (1.7%) is above 35 years.

· Distribution of mother in selected rural areas according to their religion reveals that 52 (86.7%) are hindu, 5 (8.3%) are buddhist and 3 (5%) are others.

· Distribution of mother in selected rural areas according to their educational status reveals that 18 (30%) had primary education, 21(35%) had secondary education, 20(33.3%) higher secondary education and 1(1.7%) had completed their graduation.

· Distribution of mother in selected rural areas according to their occupation reveals that 1(1.7%) are government servant, 3 (5%) are private servant, 34 (90%) are home maker and 2 (3.3%) are other.

· Distribution of mother in selected rural areas according to their number of children reveals that 49 (81.7%) are having one child and 11 (18.3%) are having two children.

· Distribution of mother in selected rural areas according to their age of under five children reveals that 22 (31%) are in between birth to 1year, 21 (29.6%) are in between 1year 1 month to 2year, 12(16.9%) are in between 2 year 1month to 3year , 12 (16.9%) are in between 3 year 1month to 4year and 4 (5.6%) are in between 4 year 1month to 5year

· Distribution of mother in selected rural areas according to their sex of the children reveals that 38 (53.5%) have male children and 33 (46.5%) are having female children

SECTION B:

This section deals with the assessment of knowledge regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases among mother in selected rural areas. The level of knowledge is divided under following heading, poor, average, good, and excellent.

Table 1: knowledge score regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases among mother of under five children’s in selected rural areas. n = 60

Level of knowledge score	Score range	Percentage score	Knowledge score
Level of knowledge score	Score range	Percentage score	Frequency	Percentage
Poor	0-8	0-25%	0	0%
Average	9-16	25-50%	39	65%
Good	17-24	51-75%	21	35%
Excellent	25-32	>75%	0	0%
Minimum score	11
Maximum score	20
Mean score	15.48 ± 2.40
Mean %	48.38 ± 7.51

Figure 1: knowledge regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases among mother of under five children in selected rural area.

The above table and graph shows that due to mass media communication no mother of rural area is having poor level of knowledge score, 39(65%) of mother of rural area having average level of knowledge score, 21(35%) of mother of rural area having good level of knowledge score, and no mother of rural area had excellent knowledge score. The minimum score was 11 and the maximum score was 20, the mean score was 15.48 ± 2.40 with a mean percentage score of 48.38 ± 7.51.

SECTION C

In this section Association of knowledge score regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases among mother of under five children in selected rural areas with selected demographic variables.

In this section B association of knowledge scores of mother of under five children in relation to age of mother, Religion of Mother, Educational status of Mother, occupation of mother, number of children and Age of under five children were Non Significant with the knowledge scores. But the Demographic variable i.e, Sex of the under five children was Significant in this study, which is explained in the following table given below.

Table 2: Association of knowledge score in relation to sex of the under five children of mother of under five children in selected rural areas n=60

Sex of under five children

Frequency

Mean knowledge

score

F-value

p-value

Male

13.78±49

73.39 df=1.39

0.04

p <0.05

Female

12.14±4.77

This table shows the association of knowledge scores in relation to sex of the under five children of mother of under five children in selected rural areas. The calculated value was df= 1.21which is smaller than the calculated f i.e 73.39 at 5% level of significance. Also the calculated ‗p‘=0.04 which is smaller than the acceptable level of significance i.e. ‗p‘=0.05. Hence it is interpreted that relation to sex of the under five children to mother of under five children in selected rural areas is Associated with their knowledge scores.

DISCUSSION:

The findings of the study were discussed with reference to the objectives mentioned in chapter 1 and with the findings of the other studies in this section. The present study undertaken was study to assess the knowledge of mother of under five children regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable disease in selected rural area.

A detailed review of literature indicated that most of the studies indicating that most of the mothers of under five children have a poor or average knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases. This study was done in effort to find out the knowledge of mother of under five children regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases and to see the association with selected demographic variables.

A case control study was conducted to assess Immunization coverage and the knowledge and practice among one hundred and thirty mothers in the age group (15-44) years and 142 children aged (12-59) months which were selected by cluster sampling method from nine villages in Wardha district. Out of this 100 mothers and 122 children could be contacted for evaluation of immunization coverage and assessing maternal knowledge and practice regarding immunization. 52.5% children were fully immunized and 45.1% were partially immunized. Vaccine coverage for B.C.G. and primary doses of DPT/OPV was 95.9% and above 85% respectively. It was 57.4% for measles and 63.04% for booster dose of DPT/OPV. Drop-out rate from second to third dose of DPT/OPV was 5.3% and from third to booster dose was 36.96%. Mothers had a fair knowledge regarding need for immunization but a poor knowledge regarding the diseases prevented and doses of the vaccines. So the study revealed that mother had a poor knowledge regarding prevented doses and fair knowledge regarding immunization.⁴

Statistically there is a no significant association of knowledge of mother of under five children regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases with age of the mother, religion, education status, occupation, age of the child, number of children and sex of the child. But there is a significant relation of knowledge with number of children of mother of under five children. This shows that more the number of children the knowledge of mother regarding vaccine preventable diseases is more.

The findings are supported by the study conducted in selected hospitals in manglore.

Hence the present study strongly suggests that no mothers of the under five children is having average and poor knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases and so no mothers is in this catagory. The awareness regarding immunization need to be increased in the rural areas by the health professionals and mass medias to overcome the problem of immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases. Thus all the above mentioned studies are also supporting the results of our present study on Study to assess the knowledge of mother of under five children regarding immunization schedule and vaccine preventable diseases and immunization schedule in selected rural areas.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· A similar study can be conducted with a large sample size to confirm the result of the study on knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases.

· A comparative study on knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases can be conducted in rural and urban areas

· A study on knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases can be conducted among other community people in various areas

· A similar study on knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases can be conducted in the hospital set up for generalization of findings.

· Experimental study with control group should be conducted to evaluate the difference in knowledge of mothers with under five children and mothers with more than five year children.

· A similar study can be conducted on knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases considering different age group of children.

CONCLUSION:

The goal of immunizing children against the diseases responsible for child mortality and morbidity is indeed a noble one. However, it is not an easy task to achieve. In a developing country like India, the sheer logistics of the numbers of the target population that stretches across geographically diverse regions make universal immunization of children a Herculean task. The current level of coverage of ‗fully-immunized‘ children under the national immunization programme is quite low, as pointed out by several studies. The child needs to be protected from six infectious and vaccine preventable diseases. These diseases include tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough and poliomyelitis. The under five children can be saved from deaths by immunizing them at the right age and right time and by completing the full course of immunization.⁶

Improvement in female literacy coupled with the reduction in the dropout rate would add to achieve a higher target of immunization among children as reported in one of the study conducted in Assam. After reviewing these, researcher felt that there is a compelling need to assess the knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable disease and based on this it will be helpful in identifying the learning needs, in developing specific health education module. The present study also reveals that mothers of under five children in selected rural areas of Wardha region was poor regarding immunization and average regarding vaccine preventable diseases. So this study suggest that mother‘s socio-demographic characteristics as well as socioeconomic factors cannot influence the mothers knowledge regarding immunization and vaccine preventable diseases, but the number of children can influence the mothers knowledge regarding vaccine preventable diseases.

REFRENCES:

1. Park. K. Community health nursing principles and Practice‖, 1^st Edition, Kumar publishing house, Pitampura, Delhi: 2007.P- 378-439.

2. Gulani K.K, ―Community health nursing principles and practice‖ 1^stedition, Kumar publishing House, Pitampura, Delhi: 2007 P 378-439.

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php.

4. Topuzoglu A, Ozaydin GA, Calis, Cebeci D, Kalaca S,et al; Immunization coverage and the knowledge and practice. Journal of public Health. 2005 Oct; 119 (10): 862-9.

5. Linkins RW, Salmon DA, Omer SB, Pan WK, Stoklev S, et al: To determine the knowledge of mothers on immunization of children. BMC public Health. 2006 sep 226; 236.

6. Ball WJ, Binder RC. Paediatric nursing caring for children. 4^th ed. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd; 2009

Received on 26.06.2019 Modified on 11.07.2019

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2019; 7(3):251-254.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2652.2019.00057.X