The Barriers of Child Immunization Completion among Parents in the Community Health Centre, Johor Bahru

Introduction: Immunization is one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing child mortality. There is a vital need to assess parents’ barriers involving child immunization completion to improve and increase vaccination coverage and completeness.

Objective: To determine the barriers of child immunization completion among parents in the Community Health Centre of Johor Bahru.

Methodology: The Maternal and Child Health Clinic, Jalan Abdul Samad providing primary immunization was selected via non-random and convenience sampling. Children between1 month to 2 years old who were immunized were identified. Data were obtained from parents who brought in their children for primary vaccination at the Maternal and Child Health Clinic, Jalan Abdul Samad.

Results: The response rate for this study was 100% (n=306). All the eligible parents who were approached by the researchers agreed to participate in this research. Out of all respondents, 3 (1.0%) completely refused the immunization of their child, 23 (7.5%) defaulted with the immunization, and 280 (91.5%) completed the immunization. In terms of perception towards immunization, 60 or 19.6% of the total respondents stated that their preference for alternative treatments is their main reason if they decide not to have their children vaccinated. After adjusting for socio-demographic differences, the researchers discovered that parents who have significantly lower coverage for all 10 childhood vaccines themselves were less likely to agree that vaccines are necessary to protect the health of children, to believe that their child might get a disease if they aren't vaccinated, or to believe that vaccines are safe.

Conclusion: This first systematic evaluation of immunization refusal in Malaysia showed that a small number of parents refused immunization.