Nigerian rural mothers’ knowledge of routine childhood immunizations and attitudes about use of reminder text messages for promoting timely completion

Abstract

Mothers’ poor knowledge and attitudes about routine immunization impede childhood immunization completion. This study assessed mothers’ knowledge in rural communities about routine immunization and acceptability of mobile phone reminder text messages as an intervention for improving uptake and timely completion of routine immunization. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design among 3440 consenting mothers of infants in six randomly selected Nigerian states and in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). We used a Focus Group Discussion guide and validated questionnaire to collect data; we analysed data using a thematic approach and descriptive statistics. Respondents’ ages were 26.7 ± 5.5 years. Knowledge of routine immunization was poor; attitudinal disposition was positive. Most (90.5%) indicated willingness to accept reminder text messages for routine immunization and 91.5% opined that mobile phones can be effective in providing such information. Mothers’ willingness to accept the use of SMS reminder text messages for promoting routine immunization completion requires well-designed and culture-sensitive persuasive messages.