Abstract

Objective: Tetanus, a vaccine-preventable disease, still has the potential to threaten human health. Immunization, especially in pregnant women, is extremely important as it protects both mother and baby. This study aims to evaluate the tetanus immunization status of pregnant women, their approach to the vaccine, and the factors affecting these.

Methods: A 19-item questionnaire was applied to pregnant women from all over Turkey who applied to the hospital for any reason and agreed to participate.

Results: A total of 5000 pregnant women from seven geographical regions, aged between 15 and 44 (mean 28±5.7) and whose gestational age was between 8 and 40 weeks (mean 22.07±8.5), participated in the study. %88.2 of them did not get vaccinated in their current pregnancy and %23.2 of them didn’t plan to get vaccinated. When the reasons for not being vaccinated were questioned, %28.6 and %15.4 of them were afraid of side effects and harming the baby, respectively. In addition, %23.9 of them thought they didn’t need to be vaccinated, and %7.1 of them stated that the vaccine didn’t provide any protection. In the univariate analysis, living in the Aegean Region, receiving education until high school, being at and after the 24th gestational week, having first pregnancy, being followed by the family physician were significantly higher factors for vaccination during current pregnancy and vaccination was significantly lower in those with at least one dose of tetanus vaccine in previous pregnancies, and those who previously developed vaccine-related side effects. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, living in the Aegean Region, being pregnant for the first time, being followed by a family physician, and having been educated until high school, were found to be independent factors that increased the vaccination rate while being vaccinated in a previous pregnancy or pregnancies and having previous vaccination-related side effects were found to be independent factors that significantly reduced vaccination.

Conclusions: Determining the attitudes and behaviors of pregnant women towards tetanus vaccination is important to increase the vaccination rates. Our study observed that vaccination rates were significantly higher in pregnant women who family physicians followed. Tetanus vaccine immunization rates can be increased in pregnant women with the active participation of family physicians in the follow-up of pregnant women.