A Systematic Review on Health Interventions Used in Enhancing Vaccination Uptake

Background: Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) are common causes of morbidity and mortality reported worldwide among children under five years old. However, routine coverage rates for recommended vaccines in many countries are still below the national targets. Objective: To systematically collate and synthesize evidence on public health interventions and strategies used in increasing the childhood vaccination uptake. Design: A systematic literature search was conducted using studies that published in last 10 years. The present study was conducted using electronic search resources (PubMed/MEDLINE, Google scholar and Science Direct) and manually searched of references for evidence present in published studies. The inclusion criteria set was public health intervention studies with aimed to increase vaccine uptake of recommended childhood vaccinations. Two independent authors reviewed studies found for agreement on the quality of studies before it be selected as evidence data. The disagreement was resolved through discussion and the third author was added when necessary for consensus. The quality of study methodology was graded using the Effective Public Health Practice Project qualitative assessment tool for quantitative study. Results: There were 17 of 21 studies were synthesized in the final discussion. Current study found that 76% of the public health interventions studies, used strategies by targeting the parents or guardians while 12% of the interventions targeting the health care workers and the rest is targeting the community. Interventions used in the studies were mobile-based messages (41%), face-to-face parent/community-based (29%), health care service delivery (18%) and internet/the web-based (12%). Conclusion: Improving vaccine uptake using latest technology communication like mobile-based messages or the internet-based for educational intervention should be consider for immediate action in facing vaccination hesitancy. However, these methods are needed further assessment for cost effective. Any strategies used should tailor to target population’s need, socio-cultural background, reasons for hesitancy, and the specific organization goals