Tetanus Toxoid Vaccination Uptake and Associated Factors among Mothers Who Gave Birth in the Last 12 Months in Errer District, Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Maternal tetanus is defined as tetanus acquired during pregnancy or within 6 weeks after the end of conception. As tetanus is a vaccine-preventable disease, immunization of pregnant mothers with a TT (tetanus toxoid) dose is one of the most effective ways to protect against the disease. Some studies showed that 94% of neonatal mortality reduction could be achieved through immunization of pregnant and childbearing-age mothers with at least two doses of TT vaccination. OBJECTIVE: To assess the uptake of tetanus toxoid vaccine and associated factors among mothers who gave birth in the last 12 months in Errer district, Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia, 2017. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A community-based cross-sectional study design was implemented to study 440 mothers who gave birth in the last 12 months. Participants were selected using the strata and systematic sampling technique after conducting a preliminary survey. Data were collected through a face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaire. The collected data was entered into EpiData version 3.02 and then exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were carried out to see the association between variables at p < 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Finally, the information was presented by using frequencies, summary measures, and tables. RESULT: The overall tetanus vaccination uptake (≥TT2) doses was found to be 51.8%, 95% CI (47.7%, 56.4%). The total number of mothers who complete the five TT doses was 31 (14.8%). Urban residence [AOR = 6.1, 95% CI: (2.33, 10.43)], multiparity [AOR = 2.3, 95% CI: (1.7, 6.4)], and traveling less than 30 minutes from the home to a health facility [AOR = 4.6, 95% CI: (1.34, 6.72)] were some the factors that were significantly associated with tetanus toxoid vaccination uptake. Conclusion and Recommendation. Although TT immunization is a scientifically proven mechanism to protect against maternal and neonatal tetanus, only half of the district mothers received ≥TT2 doses. Besides, our study revealed that the low vaccine uptake is attributed to long distance travel to reach a health facility, maternal illiteracy, and pastoralist lifestyle of mothers in the district. Thus, the regional stakeholders are required to scale up efforts on mother's awareness creation towards the importance of the vaccine through health education and to arrange outreach TT vaccination campaigns in distant pastoralist communities within the region.