Advantage of the shrinkage estimator in establishing the main Determinants of Immunization in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya
Abstract
The client factors that influence under-five child guardian compliance to the immunization
schedule are interlinked based on household characteristics, socioeconomic status of the
family, and maternal health practices. An incentive to motivate the mothers to prioritize their
children health practices especially on vaccination works perfectly towards to achievement of
full immunization coverage. Illustrated by a randomly sampled study carried out within
Weonia location, Trans-Nzoia County in March 2014 whose target population were children
under the age of five years. A Multinomial logistic regression model used to analyze the
determinant of partial or none-immunized and the parameters estimated using the maximum
likelihood estimator and the shrinkage estimator - Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection
Operator. The shrinkage estimator method gave a sparse model that was easy to interpret and
increased the estimated predictability accuracy. The shrinkage estimator identified factors
that mainly influenced the level of compliance to the immunization schedule as household
size, level of child health awareness, maternal health practices and access to an intervention
in form of an incentive by the child‟s parents/guardian. Maternal health practices and access
to a motivating intervention are significant factors that ensure a guardian‟s compliance to
their child immunization. More should be done towards the implementation of the current
intervention, educate the community on the essence of vaccination and further introduce a
reminder intervention since this helps to reduce the incidences of ignorance, laziness, and
forgetfulness by mothers about their children‟s vaccination.
Citation
Master of Science in Social StatisticsPublisher
University of Nairobi