Frequency of Tetanus Toxoid Vaccine and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in District Shaheed Benazirabad

Abstract

Background: Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) is an acute and possibly fatal illness affects women during pregnancy or within six weeks of postpartum.

Objective: To assess the frequency of Tetanus Toxoid (TT) vaccination among pregnant women and to identify the factors associated with TT vaccination during pregnancy.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics in collaboration with Department of Community Medicine, Peoples Medical College Hospital (PMCH), Nawabshah from March to August 2023. A total of 192 pregnant women aged 15 to 49 years were included. Data were collected on a pre-designed Proforma. The data entry and analysis were performed by SPSS software version 25. A chi-square test was used to identify associated factors contributing to the vaccination of TT, data was compared using appropriate stats and a p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.

Results Around 41% of pregnant women received the recommended doses of TT. Only 32% of all illiterate participants were fully vaccinated while this factor surged to 80% in participants who received university education. Considering the major cause of not having vaccination, about 80% participants had lack of awareness regarding vaccination.

Conclusion: The present study demonstrated inadequate coverage of TT vaccination among women. Several factors were significantly associated with TT vaccination, including place of residence, women’s educational status, knowledge regarding TT doses during pregnancy and across the lifetime, employment status of women, husband’s income, travel time to the health facility, husband’s consent, and availability of a TT vaccination card.