A Systematic Review of Factors That Influence Parents’ Views and Practices around Routine Childhood Vaccination in Africa: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis

Abstract

A Cochrane review which explored the factors that influence caregivers’ views and practices around routine childhood vaccines worldwide was conducted by Cooper and colleagues. After sampling 154 studies that met their inclusion criteria, the authors included 27 studies in their synthesis, of which 6 were from Africa. The aim of the current review was to synthesise all 27 studies conducted in Africa. We wanted to determine if the inclusion of additional African studies will change any of the themes, concepts or theory generated in the Cochrane review. Our review found that parents’ views and practices regarding childhood vaccination in Africa were influenced by various factors, which we categorised into five themes, namely, ideas and practices surrounding health and illness (Theme 1); social communities and networks (Theme 2); political events, relations, and processes (Theme 3); lack of information or knowledge (Theme 4); and access-supply-demand interactions (Theme 5). All of the themes identified in our review were also identified in the Cochrane review except for one theme, which was lack of information or knowledge. This finding will help to promote vaccine acceptance and uptake in Africa by developing and implementing interventions tailored to address lack of knowledge and information around vaccines.