Compliance to the National Immunization Program: A Review of Immunization Records of Grade 1 Students in a Public Elementary School in Manila for the Academic Year 2017-2018

Background: Vaccination is a cost-effective primary preventive measure against infectious diseases. However, protection for specific diseases may wane over time. The National Immunization Program was launched to improve vaccine coverage but despite this, some countries including the Philippines have erratic vaccine coverage. Objective: To determine the compliance to the National Immunization Program of Grade 1 students in a public elementary school Methodology: The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design. Simple random sampling of students enrolled in first grade for A.Y. 2017-2018 was done to determine the study respondents. Primary and secondary data were obtained through a pretested structured questionnaire with interview of the students’ caregiver and verification via the students’ immunization records. Compliance to immunization was correlated with the subjects’ age, birth rank, primary caregiver and socio-demographic profile of the caregiver, place of birth and place of vaccination. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression was used to assess factors for increased vaccination compliance. Results: Most respondents had their mothers as primary caregivers. Majority were institutional deliveries and immunized at a health center. Mean compliance to vaccination was 69%. Among the factors, only place of birth, specifically, hospital delivery, was associated with increased compliance to vaccination (OR = 0.3312, 90% CI 0.1496 to 0.7333, p value 0.0064). Subjects whose primary caregivers were the mothers and whose parents had higher educational attainment or were both employed were shown to have higher vaccination compliance, although this was not statistically significant. Vaccination coverage was observed to decrease over time as the subjects grew older. Most common reasons cited for missing vaccinations were vaccine unavailability (68%), financial constraints 46%), and lack of information (40%). Conclusion: Compliance to vaccination in this study was 69% and is affected by multiple factors. Policymakers and stakeholders should address these barriers to improve vaccination coverage and overall health status.