How often do children receive their vaccinations late, and why?

OBJECTIVES: To assess vaccination timeliness, risk factors associated with delays and the reasons for delayed vaccinations among children below the age of 3 years in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during the period of May 2016 to August 2017. Data were obtained from parents of children under the age of 3 years using a structured questionnaire comprised of questions about sociodemographics, physical well-being of the child and the reasons that are used to justify delayed vaccinations. Vaccinations were considered delayed if they occurred more than 30 days after the time designated on the primary vaccination schedule. Logistic regression was used to assess the risk factors for vaccination delays.

RESULTS: The study included 351 children. Delayed vaccinations were observed in 85/351 (24.2%) of the sample. Delays were noted to occur most frequently for Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine (MMR), seconddose of meningococcal conjugate quadrivalent vaccine (MCV4), second  dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV) and fourth  dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in 19/125 (15.2%) of the sample. Traveling at the time of vaccination was the most common delay reason and was reported in 31/142 (21.3%) of the sample.

CONCLUSION: Adherence to vaccination is fairly common in this part of the country. However, vaccination delays are still present and should be addressed to improve health care.