Missed opportunities of vaccination in primary health care establishments in Ecuador

Objective: Evaluate the attributable causes that originate missed opportunities of vaccination (OPDV) in the centers of attention level of the District of Health of the city of Quito. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was based on an exit survey to 368 caregivers of children 5 years old and under in all the primary care establishments in district 17D05 in Quito in 2017. We performed a univariate and bivariate analysis to describe the population and any related risk factors. Results: A total of 368 children had their vaccination card, out of which 123 (33,4%) had an incomplete vaccination scheme for their age; 44 (35,7%) were candidates for possible vaccination during their visit to the health center, but only 21 (44,7%) were vaccinated. The main causes attributed to the lack of vaccination were that the caregiver had not taken the child to the health center for vaccination (76,2%) and causes related to the knowledge of the health professionals (19%). The only statistically significant risk factor found that was related to a higher probability of missing a vaccination opportunity was the caregivers age. Conclusions: The OPDV were mainly attributed to causes related to the demand of the service, that is, to reasons generated from the parents or caregivers and to a lesser extent to the attitudes of the health personnel studied from the point of view of the user.