COVERAGE AND DETERMINANTS OF TETANUS TOXOID VACCINATION AMONG MARRIED WOMEN AND GIRLS OF CHILDBEARING AGE

Background and objective: Providing vaccination services to mothers and girls of childbearing age is one of the most important health interventions that contribute to the prevention of maternal and neonatal tetanus, significantly reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. Many factors – social, economic, religious, and cultural-may contribute to achieving a high or low level of TT vaccine coverage. Martials and methods: This community-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted for the purpose of studying the tetanus vaccine immunization coverage among mothers and girls of childbearing age in El-Obeid city. For collect study data from the respondents, the researchers prepared a structured questionnaire and checked for consistency. It was used throughout the face-to-face interview. A simple random probability sampling technique was used to select sample units. The data were entered, analyzed and processed using SPSS version 23.0 and Microsoft Excel (2010) software. Cross-tabulation analysis was conducted and the level of statistical significance was determined by a p-value of less than 0.05. Two hundred sixty-seven (267) of mothers and girls of childbearing age were interviewed. Results: 181/267 (67.8%) had received TT vaccine. 107 (40.1%) of respondents had kept TT vaccine cards. Socio-economic factors; resident, educational level, age group and marital status were associated with received TT vaccine and number of doses had received (p-value= 0.000). Keeping of vaccination card was associated with marital status, number of doses had received and educational level (p-value= 0.000). Conclusion: The study showed that nearly two-thirds of respondents received the tetanus vaccine, so community health awareness campaign should be implemented to encourage them to get vaccinated and complete their prescribed doses.