1.1 Background of the study

Routine childhood immunization remains one of the most cost-effective public-health interventions for reducing child morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). However, national and state averages often conceal substantial sub-national variation in coverage and timeliness; local caregiver knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) are frequently decisive in whether a child completes the recommended schedule on time (World Health Organization, 2022). The WHO’s Behavioural and Social Drivers (BeSD) framework highlights that vaccination decisions reflect interacting domains — thinking and feeling (beliefs and concerns), social processes (norms and influencers), motivation, and practical issues (access and convenience) — and recommends measuring these domains to guide tailored programmatic responses (World Health Organization, 2022).

Empirical research across sub-Saharan Africa and within Nigeria shows that maternal education, antenatal care attendance, and exposure to reliable information are consistently associated with better vaccination knowledge and higher completion rates, while misinformation, fear of side effects and service-level constraints (long waits, inconvenient hours, user costs) reduce timely uptake (Ariyibi et al., 2023; Omobowale et al., 2024). Studies of working mothers and market communities in Ibadan emphasize that livelihood pressures (long work hours, lost income for clinic visits) and unclear understanding of the immunization schedule are important contributors to drop-off after early doses — a pattern that can be addressed only by locally-tailored strategies combining education with service-delivery adaptations (Omobowale et al., 2024).

Because Bodija community in Ibadan North LGA hosts a socio-economically mixed population (students, traders, formal workers and informal earners), city-level interventions may not adequately reflect its unique mix of informational needs and access barriers. A focused KAP study in Bodija will therefore clarify whether gaps are primarily informational (knowledge of vaccine schedule and disease prevention), affective (safety concerns and trust), normative (family/community influence), or practical (clinic hours, travel cost), and will provide evidence to target the most efficient, locally appropriate interventions (World Health Organization, 2022; Ndaki et al., 2024).

1.2 Statement of the problem

Despite progress in national immunization programmes, many children in Nigerian communities remain incompletely or untimely immunized. Existing surveys and community studies have repeatedly shown that mothers’ knowledge and attitudes are strongly linked to children’s vaccination outcomes, and that service characteristics and livelihood constraints contribute to incomplete schedules (Ariyibi et al., 2023). In Ibadan specifically, mixed-methods work with informal working mothers found high initial uptake but substantial drop-off later in the schedule, frequently driven by long clinic waiting times, competing livelihood demands, and gaps in mothers’ practical understanding of the schedule (Omobowale et al., 2024).

At the community level in Bodija, programme managers currently lack recent, locality-specific data describing mothers’ factual knowledge of the immunization schedule, their safety perceptions, dominant information sources, and the practical barriers they face. Without these data, interventions risk being generic and misdirected — for example, investing in broad radio messaging where the primary problem is inconvenient clinic hours for market traders, or extending outreach where the main issue is misunderstanding of which vaccines are given at what ages. A focused KAP investigation in Bodija will therefore identify the specific, modifiable determinants of incomplete or delayed vaccination in this community and inform pragmatic, evidence-based changes to local health promotion and service delivery (World Health Organization, 2022; Omobowale et al., 2024).

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding routine childhood immunization among mothers of children aged 0–59 months in Bodija community, Ibadan North LGA, Oyo State.

Specific objectives:

1. To determine the proportion of mothers in Bodija who demonstrate correct knowledge of the routine childhood immunization schedule and of common vaccine-preventable diseases.
2. To describe mothers’ attitudes toward routine vaccines, including perceived benefits and safety concerns.
3. To document immunization-related practices among mothers (possession and retention of immunization cards, timely attendance for scheduled doses, use of reminders).
4. To identify mothers’ primary sources of information about immunization (health workers, radio/TV, social media, family/friends) and assess associations between information source and knowledge/attitude.
5. To examine socio-demographic predictors of good immunization practice (maternal education, parity, employment status, antenatal care attendance, household socioeconomic proxy).

1.4 Research Questions

1. What proportion of mothers in Bodija community correctly identify the national childhood immunization schedule and key vaccine-preventable diseases?
2. What are the prevailing attitudes among Bodija mothers toward routine vaccination (perceived benefits, safety concerns, trust in health providers)?
3. What immunization practices are common in Bodija (card retention, timely dosing, use of reminders) and which practices are lacking?
4. Which information sources do Bodija mothers rely on for immunization information, and how do those sources relate to correct knowledge and positive attitudes?
5. Which socio-demographic factors (education, ANC attendance, employment, household assets) predict better immunization practices among mothers in Bodija?

1.5 Scope of the Study

This is a community-based cross-sectional KAP study to be conducted in Bodija community, Ibadan North LGA, Oyo State. The study population will be biological mothers or primary female caregivers of children aged 0–59 months who have lived in Bodija for at least six months. The quantitative component will use an interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from validated KAP modules and the WHO BeSD items to measure knowledge (schedule and disease recognition), attitudes (safety, trust, perceived necessity), information sources, and practices (card possession, timeliness, clinic visits). Basic socio-demographic and health-service access variables (distance to clinic, perceived staff attitude, waiting times, ANC attendance) will also be collected. A small qualitative component (3–4 focus group discussions with mothers representing different livelihood groups and 6–8 key informant interviews with local health workers and community leaders) is recommended to contextualize survey findings, explore normative influences, and identify feasible, community-acceptable interventions. Data analysis will include descriptive statistics, bivariate associations, and multivariable logistic regression to identify independent predictors of good practice (e.g., on-time completion). Ethical approval will be sought from the relevant institutional review board and Oyo State health authorities; written informed consent will be obtained from all participants prior to interview (Ariyibi et al., 2023; World Health Organization, 2022).

References

Ariyibi, S. O., Ojuawo, A. I., Ibraheem, R. M., Afolayan, F. M., & Ibrahim, O. R. (2023). Mothers/caregivers’ knowledge of routine childhood immunization and vaccination status in children aged 12–23 months in Ilorin, Nigeria. African Health Sciences, 23(4), 582–591. https://doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v23i4.61

Ndaki, P., Kinyonga, M., & Mwita, S. (2024). Knowledge, attitude and practice towards child immunisation among mothers attending Magu District Hospital, Mwanza. East African Health Research Journal, 8(1), 80–85. https://doi.org/10.24248/eahrj.v8i1.752

Omobowale, M. O., Amodu, F. A., et al. (2024). Contextualizing post day-one childhood immunization in-take drop-off rate in Nigeria: An assessment of working mothers in Ibadan. Gates Open Research, 2024. https://doi.org/10.21956/gatesopenres.16473.r37387

World Health Organization. (2022). Behavioural and social drivers of vaccination: Tools and practical guidance for achieving high uptake. World Health Organization.

Larson, H. J., Gakidou, E., & Murray, C. J. L. (2022). The vaccine-hesitant moment. The New England Journal of Medicine, 387(1), 58–65. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra2106441

Gichuki, J., Ngoye, B., & Wafula, F. (2024). “I’ll take them another day”: A qualitative study exploring the socio-behavioral complexities of childhood vaccination in urban poor settlements. PLOS ONE, 19(5), e0303215. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303215