Factors Associated With Vaccination Compliance in Southeast Asian Children: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Although vaccination coverage has reached a peak of 86% globally, around 19.9 million infants and children are yet to receive routine vaccinations—with Asia holding the highest prevalence of noncompliance. This implies notable gaps in vaccination coverage among some regions in the world. This study aims to analyze the factors associated with compliance toward childhood vaccination in Southeast Asia. A systematic review of observational studies was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane. Included studies analyze factors affecting compliance with childhood vaccination in Southeast Asia, and assessed with Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale’s criteria. Sixteen observational studies were included, with a total of 41 956 subjects, consisting of 15 cross-sectional studies and one case-control study. Our results suggested that parental personal–related, children and family status–related, socioeconomic, and health care–related factors strongly affected subjects’ compliance with immunization. Prominent determinants were older maternal age, higher economics groups, parents in government or health care sectors, and frequent antenatal care visits. On the other hand, noncompliance were associated with younger age, large quantity of family members, lower economic groups, lower education, and unemployed parents. We hope that this comprehensive assessment thoroughly addresses challenges and inform strategies to raise compliance toward childhood vaccination in Southeast Asia.