Fear, knowledge, and vaccination behaviors among women in Northern Nigeria

Background: Although vaccine hesitancy is a global concern, the evaluation on how fear of vaccination affects vaccination-related knowledge, behaviors, and perceptions is extremely scarce in developing countries. This study contributes to the literature by filling the knowledge gap on the fear of vaccination by focusing on Nigerian caregivers. Methods: The study evaluates the correlation between fear of vaccination and knowledge, actual behaviors, and perception among caregivers in 11 settlements in the Jada local government area of Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria. The data were collected in September 2019. We use logistic regression analysis to evaluate the correlation. Results and Discussions: About 15% of caregivers have some form of fear regarding vaccination. However, such fear is not correlated with most of the socio-demographic characteristics among caregivers. Fear is significantly correlated with the lack of accurate vaccination knowledge, with a lower likelihood of vaccination uptake for their children, and with the lack of perceptions of vaccination importance and intention to vaccinate their children. Results from our study are consistent with findings from existing studies conducted in developed countries.