Pharmacists' knowledge and practice regarding immunization in Ogun State, Southwest, Nigeria
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Immunization is a public health intervention aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. However, evidence suggests that vaccine coverage is low especially in developing countries including Nigeria. To improve vaccine uptake among the public, strategies including the inclusion of professional non-traditional vaccine administrators such as pharmacists in immunization schemes have been advocated. However, there is paucity of data on pharmacists' knowledge and practice of immunization in Nigeria.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and practice of pharmacists regarding immunization in Osun State Southwestern Nigeria.
Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was carried out among consecutively selected pharmacists in purposively selected five local government areas in Ogun State, Southwest, Nigeria. A 30-item pre-tested questionnaire that explored the participants' socio-demographics, their knowledge and practice of immunization was administered to them in their respective places of work. Chi-square test was used to determine associations between respondents' socio-demographics and categorical variables of interest. A pvalue < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Of the 180 copies of the questionnaire distributed 145 (80.6%) were retrieved and analysed. Almost half of the respondents (71; 49.0%) were aged <30 years (mean age =35.43+0.28 years), 106 (73.1%) rated their participation in the distribution of immunization leaflet as <20%, 127 ( 87.6%) knew that the aged require immunization but many (104;71.7%) could not give reasons. There was no significant association between the length of practice and pharmacists' engagement on the immunization advisory committee (p= 0.196).
Conclusion: An appreciable proportion of the pharmacists who took part in the study had inadequate knowledge and engaged sub-optimally in immunization activities.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
World Health Organization (WHO). Immunization. 2018; Available at: http://www.who.int/topics/immunization/en/. Accessed February 15, 2018.
Plotkin SL, Plotkin SA. 1 - A Short History of Immunization. In: Plotkin SA, Orenstein WA, Offit PA, Edwards KM, ed. Plotkin's Vaccines, Seventh Edition. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2018.
World Health Organization (2018). Immunization. Available at;https://www.who.int/topics/immunization/en/. Accessed November 7, 2019.
Dubé E, Vivion M, MacDonald NE (2015). Vaccine hesitancy, vaccine refusal and the anti-vaccine movement: influence, impact and implications. Expert Review of Vaccines 14(1):99-117. doi:10.1586/14760584.2015.964212.
Obanewa OA, Newell ML (2020). The role of place of residency in childhood immunisation coverage in Nigeria: analysis of data from three DHS rounds 2003-2013. BMC Public Health 20, 123. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8170-6
Ogundele OA, Ogundele T, Beloved O (2020). Vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria: contributing factors-way forward. Nigerian Journal of General Practice 18:1-4
Stamboulian D, Soler L, Copertari P, Cordero AP, Vázquez H, Valanzasca P, Monsanto H, Grabenstein JD, Johnson KD (2018). Policies and practices on pharmacy-delivered immunization: a survey study conducted in six Latin American countries. Rev. OFIL·ILAPHAR 28;3:187-198 / ORIGINALES / 187
Vlahov D, Coady MH ,Ompad DC, Galea S (2007). Strategies for improving influenza immunization rates among hard-to-reach populations. Journal of Urban Health 84(4):615-31. PMID:17562184.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Non influenza immunization coverage among adultsUnited States (2013). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 62(4):66-72. PMID:23364272.
Polla GD, Napolitano F, Pelullo CP, De Simone C, Lambiase C, Angelillo IF (2020) Investigating knowledge, attitudes ,and practices regarding immunizations of community pharmacists in Italy. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics 16 (10): 2422 - 2428, DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1720441
Poudel A, Lau ETL, Deldot M. Campbell C, Waite NM, Nissenet LM (2019). Pharmacist role in immunization: Evidence and challenges. Vaccine 20; 37 (40): 5939 - 5945 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.08.060
Ecarnot F, Crepaldi G, Juvin P, Grabenstein J, Del Giudice G, Tan L, O' Dwyer S, Esposito S, Bosch X, Gavazzi G, Papastergiou J, Gaillat J, Johnson R, Fonzo M, Rossanese A, Suitner C, Barratt J, Di Pasquale A, Maggi S, Michel J (2019). Pharmacy-based interventions to increase vaccine uptake: report of a multidisciplinary stakeholders meeting. BMC Public Health 19: 1698. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-8044-y
Rémi Valiquette J and Bédard P (2015). Community pharmacists' knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards immunization in Quebec. Canadian Journal of Public Health / Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique 106 (3): e89-e94
Srivastav A, Black CL, Lutz CS, Fiebelkorn AP, Ball SW, Devlin R, Pabst LJ, Williams WW, Kim DK (2018). U.S. clinicians' and pharmacists' reported barriers to implementation of the Standards for Adult Immunization Practice. Vaccine 36(45):6772-6781. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.09.024
Agbo BB, Esienumoh E, Inah SA, Eko JE, Nwachkwu EJ (2019). "Challenges in providing immunization services amongst community pharmacists in southsouth, Nigeria: A cross-sectional Study". Journals of Advances in medical and Pharmaceutical sciences 21(3), 1-8.doi.org/10.973/jamps/2019/v21i330133
World Health Organization (2019). Children: improving survival and well-being. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/children-reducing-mortality. Accessed June 16, 2021
Antai D (2009). Inequitable childhood immunization uptake in Nigeria: A multilevel analysis of individual and contextual determinants. BioMed Central Infectious Diseass. 9: 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-9-181
Oyadiran OT, Usman SA, Osoba ME, Olukorode SO, Lucero-Prisno III DE (2021). Towards effective and efficient COVID-19 immunization in Nigeria. Journal o f Global Health Reports5: e2021023. doi:10.29392/001c.21404
Charan J, Biswas T (2013) . How to calculate sample size for different study designs in medical research? Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 35(2):121-620. Fowowe O and Aina B (2016). Immunization Services: Involvement of Community Pharmacies in Lagos State, Nigeria. British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 12(6): 1-12. Article no.BJPR.27442
Paterson P, Meurice F, Stanberry LR, Glismann S, Rosenthal SL, Larson HJ (2016). Vaccine hesitancy and healthcare providers. Vaccine 34:6700-6
Weinberger B (2018). Vaccines for the elderly: current use and future challenges. Immunity & Ageing 15:3
Freed GL, Clark SJ, Butchart AT, Singer DC, Davis MM (2011). Sources and perceived credibility of vaccinesafety information for parents. Pediatrics 127 (Suppl1): S107-12. PMID:21502236.doi:10.1542/peds.2010-1722P
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine Recommendations and Guidelines of the ACIP. General Best Practice Guidelines for Immunization: Vaccine Records. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/index.html. Accessed July 7, 2021.
Isenor JE, Slayter KL, Halperin DM, McNeil SA, Bowles SK (2018). Pharmacists' immunization experiences, beliefs, and attitudes in New Brunswick, Canada. Pharmacy Practice 16(4):1310.
Omisore AG, Adesoji RO, Abioye-Kuteyi EA (2017). Interprofessional Rivalry in Nigeria's Health Sector: A Comparison of Doctors and Other Health Workers' Views at a Secondary Care Center. International Quarterly of Community Health Education 38(1):9-16. doi: 10.1177/0272684X17748892. Epub 2017 Dec 21. PMID: 29264960.