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2024 Faculty of Clinical Medicine and Dentistry IDOSR JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES

Factors Influencing Utilisation of Immunisation Services among Children Under Five Years in Lira Municipality Lira District Northern Uganda

Olila Daniel

This study investigated the factors influencing the utilization of immunization services among children under 5years in Lira Municipality, Lira district, Northern Uganda. Utilizing a community-based cross-sectional design withquantitative data collection methods, 380 mother-infant pairs were randomly selected from residents of LiraMunicipality. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted using STATAsoftware version 14.0 to identify significant factors affecting immunization service utilization. The study found that77.63% (295/380) of children under 5 years utilized immunization services, with the highest utilization observedamong male children (82.71%). Factors significantly influencing utilization included mothers' education level (aOR7.46, 95%CI 2.17 – 25.65, P=0.001), religion (Muslims vs. Christians: aOR 0.15, 95%CI 0.07 – 0.32, P<0.001),rudeness of health workers (aOR 3.50, 95%CI 1.73 – 7.06, P<0.001), awareness of subsequent immunizationschedules (aOR 0.38, 95%CI 0.20 – 0.70, P=0.002), possession of a child immunization card (aOR 0.34, 95%CI 0.19– 0.63, P=0.001), and understaffing at health facilities (aOR 2.87, 95%CI 1.43 – 5.78, P=0.003). The study highlightsthe importance of addressing these factors to improve immunization coverage, which currently falls below the globaltarget recommended by WHO and UNICEF.Keywords: Immunization services, Children, Under-Vaccinated, Unvaccinated, Mothers, No versus Yes.