DETERMINANTS OF IMMUNIZATION SERVICES UTILIZATION AMONG NURSING MOTHERS IN BAYELSA CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, NIGERIA

Aim/Objective: This study investigated the determinants of immunization services utilization among nursing mothers in Bayelsa Central. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sessional research design. A total of 530 nursing mothers were sampled out of which 22 were discarded, hence 508 respondents were adopted for this study. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive approach was adopted for this study. The instrument used for data collection was a structured qquestionnaire titled, Determinants of Immunization Services Utilization among Nursing Mothers Questionnaire. The validity of the instrument was established by 3 community health experts in the Department of Human Kinetics, Health and Safety Studies. The research questions were tested using means, standard deviations, and analysis of variance at 0.05 significant. Results: The results shows high extent, proximity to health care facility (mean value: 2.88±0.68), availability of immunization materials (2.68±1.07), attitude of health care provider (3.35±0.49), mothers’ level of knowledge (2.81±0.65 among others, constituted determinants of immunization services utilization among nursing mothers in Bayelsa Central Senatorial District. Conclusion: It was concluded that lack of awareness creation, non-adherence to immunization protocol, adverse events following immunity are key to optimal vaccine utilization and immunization coverage. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Governments of Bayelsa State should make efforts to promote the sensitization of mothers/caregivers to improve their knowledge on routine immunization services.