Individual- and Community-Level Determinants for Complete Vaccination among Children Aged 12-23 Months in Ethiopia: A Multilevel Analysis

Background. Childhood vaccination continues to increase dramatically. In spite of the success of immunization programs to date, millions of children continued to die each year, and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounted for the world’s highest neonatal deaths. Childhood vaccination was designed as one of the most effective ways to reduce child mortalities from fatal vaccine-preventable diseases. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating the individual- and community-level determinants of childhood complete vaccination in Ethiopia. Methods. A secondary data analysis was done based on the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). A total weighted sample of 1,984 children aged 12-23 months was included for analysis. Considering the hierarchical nature of EDHS data, a two-level multilevel analysis for assessing individual- and community-level determinants of childhood complete vaccination was done. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Median Odds Ratio (MOR), Proportional Change in Variance (PCV), and deviance (-2LL) were used for model comparison and for checking model fitness. Variables with p value < 0.2 in the bivariable multilevel analysis were considered for the multivariable multilevel analysis. In the multivariable multilevel logistic regression analysis, the Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was reported to declare significant determinants of complete childhood vaccination. Results. Overall complete vaccination status among children aged 12-23 months was 39% (95% CI: 36.8, 41.2). In the multilevel analysis, secondary or above educated mothers (AOR=2.48; 95% CI: 1.41, 4.36), richest wealth status (AOR=2.24; 95% CI: 1.16, 4.32), ≥four ANC visits (AOR=2.77; 95% CI: 1.90-4.02), employed mothers (AOR=1.66; 95% CI: 1.26, 2.18), urban residence (AOR=1.84; 95% CI: 1.00, 3.51), and children in city administration (AOR=2.66; 9% CI: 1.53, 4.62) were positively associated with vaccination status. On the other hand, children with a female household head (AOR=0.68; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.96) were negatively associated. Conclusion. Overall, childhood full vaccination status was low compared with the WHO targets. Maternal education, wealth status, ANC visit, maternal occupation, residence, region, and sex of household head were significant predictors of childhood complete vaccination. As a result, it is better to design a compensation mechanism to the costs associated with childhood vaccination for the poor households and strengthen awareness creation for rural residents to improve the access, utilization, and continuum of vaccination service