Determinants of incomplete childhood immunization among children aged 12–23 months in Dabat district, Northwest Ethiopia: Unmatched case- control study

BACKGROUND: Despite the effort to increase access to routine immunization, majority of children in low-resource countries including Ethiopia are still either unvaccinated or under-vaccinated. In Ethiopia for the past four decades, the completion rate of routine childhood immunization remains low particularly in a rural area. In this study setting, evidence regarding the socio-economic, maternal continuum care, and caregiver characteristics effect on child immunization is limited. Hence, this study aimed to identify the determinants of incomplete vaccination among children aged 12–23 months in Dabat district, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based unmatched case-control study design was employed among 132 cases and 262 controls. Multi-stage sampling method was used to recruit eligible study participants. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the determinants to children’s incomplete vaccination. RESULTS: Caregivers’ attitude towards vaccine (AOR: 6.1, 95% CI 3.4 to 11.1), knowledge on the schedule of vaccination (AOR: 4, 95% CI 2.2 to 7.1), Place of delivery (AOR: 2.7, 95% CI 1.3 to 5.5), and marital status (AOR: 2.36, 95% CI 1.22 to 4.56) were statistically significant association with incomplete childhood vaccination. CONCLUSION: Home delivery, caregivers’ poor knowledge on the schedule of vaccination, caregivers’ negative perception towards vaccine and unmarried marital status were predictors to incomplete vaccination. Therefore, to enhance full vaccination coverage, immunization health education program needs to address vaccine related safety enquiries in a meaningful method to caregivers, in order to improve the perception of caregivers towards vaccine. Moreover, improving maternal continuum care coverage is crucial.