Effect of household relocation on child vaccination and health service utilisation in Dhaka, Bangladesh: a cross-sectional community survey

Abstract

Objective: To explore the relationship between household relocation and use of vaccination and health services for severe acute respiratory illness (ARI) among children in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Design: Analysis of cross-sectional community survey data from a prior study examining the impact of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine introduction in 2009 on meningitis incidence in Bangladesh.

Setting: Communities surrounding two large paediatric hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Participants: Households with children under 5 years old who either recently relocated <12 months or who were residentially stable living >24 months in their current residence (total n=10 020) were selected for this study.

Primary outcome measures: Full vaccination coverage among children aged 9-59 months and visits to a qualified medical provider for severe ARI among children under 5 years old.

Results: Using vaccination cards with maternal recall, full vaccination was 80% among recently relocated children (n=3795) and 85% among residentially stable children (n=4713; χ²=37.2, p<0.001). Among children with ARI in the prior year, 69% of recently relocated children (n=695) had visited a qualified medical provider compared with 82% of residentially stable children (n=763; χ²=31.9, p<0.001). After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, recently relocated children were less likely to be fully vaccinated (prevalence ratio [PR] 0.97; 95% CI 0.95 to 0.99; p=0.016) and to have visited a qualified medical provider for ARI (PR 0.88; 95% CI 0.84 to 0.93; p<0.001).

Conclusions: Children in recently relocated households in Dhaka, Bangladesh, have decreased use of vaccination and qualified health services for severe ARI.

Keywords: community child health; epidemiology; public health.