Background: Rotavirus has been reported as a leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis in children under five years old. In Indonesia, rotavirus vaccination is recommended by the Indonesian Pediatric Association (IPA) starting from the age of 2 months. However, this vaccine has not been publicly funded. Therefore, the vaccine uptake depends on the doctor's recommendation or the parent's willingness to pay. This study aims to identify factors that influence rotavirus vaccination uptake in infants.
Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study. This study was conducted in April 2019. Data on socio-demographics, maternal age, number of children, breastfeeding status, maternal employment, economic status, knowledge and children's rotavirus vaccination status were collected using an online survey tool. Respondent’s knowledge of rotavirus was operationalized by grading their answer in identify causes, importance, and protective factors if they were aware of rotavirus infection. Bivariate and multivariate analysis were utilized to evaluate the factors associated with rotavirus immunization uptake in infants. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 24.0.
Results: One hundred sixty-four mothers filled out and completed the questionnaire. Over half of those surveys (60.9%) had vaccinated their child with the Rotavirus vaccine, while the rest had not. Bivariate analysis showed that rotavirus vaccination uptake associated with mothers knowledge (OR:9.03, 95%CI:4.3-8.9, p=<0.001) and monthly income (OR:2.32, 95%CI: 1.23-4.36, p=0.013,), but no relationship in maternal age (OR:0,49, 95%CI: 0.23-1.04, p=0.08), number of children (OR:0.88, 95%CI: 0.44-1.78, p=0.86), exclusive breastfeeding (OR:1.14, 95%CI: 0.54-2.42, p=0.86), and maternal employment (OR:1.34, 95%CI: 0.71-2.51, p=0.44). In multivariate analysis with backward stepwise selection, rotavirus vaccination uptake was independently associated with mothers' knowledge (AOR:9.97, 95%CI: 4.54-21.8, p=0,005) and family monthly income (AOR:2.93, 95%CI: 1.38-6.21, p=<0.001)
Conclusion: Mother’s knowledge toward rotavirus vaccine and family monthly income were the most influential factors associated with the Rotavirus vaccination uptake in infants.