Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Bondo, Kenya.
Department of Public Health and Community Health & Development, School of Health Sciences, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Bondo, Kenya.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Apr 22;24(1):1112. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18592-w.
Physically disabled persons continue to be discriminated, excluded and neglected based on design of structures and their location. This hampers equitable access to services and disproportionately affect them during a pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate physical access barriers to COVID-19 vaccines among persons with physical disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, (March 2020 to March 2022) in Ugenya Sub-county, Siaya County in Western Kenya.
The study design was cross-sectional. 108 physically disabled participants were selected using systematic sampling technique. Data was collected using structured questionnaires.
Vaccination location (χ = 95.480, p = 0.001), access to the vaccination room (χ = 84.098, p = 0.001) and mobility impaired (χ 16.168, p = 0.001) had statistically significant associations with uptake of COVID-19 vaccine. Income levels, belief in existence of COVID-19, information from mass media and being married increased the odds of becoming vaccinated (AOR = 1.5, 95% CI 0.7-3.4), (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI 0.8-4.0) (AOR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.5-4.2) and (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.9) respectively. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that transport cost and age (p = 0.001) had statistically significant associations with COVID-19 vaccine access and uptake. Those who had difficulty in movement and speaking found uptake of COVID-19 vaccine hard (p = 0.001).
Marital status, information from reliable sources, belief in existence of COVID-19 were associated with access to and uptake of COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, nonpayment of transport cost increased the odds of becoming vaccinated. Therefore, mobile health teams should be put in place to reach the physically disabled who are hard-to-leave home. Additionally, reimbursement of amount spent on transportation can be adopted to boost access to healthcare services by the physically disabled persons.
由于结构设计和位置原因，残疾人仍然面临歧视、排斥和忽视，这阻碍了他们公平获得服务，并在大流行期间对他们产生了不成比例的影响。本研究旨在评估 2020 年 3 月至 2022 年 3 月期间，在肯尼亚西部 Siaya 县 Ugenya 次县，残疾人在 COVID-19 大流行期间接种 COVID-19 疫苗的身体无障碍障碍。
本研究设计为横断面研究。使用系统抽样技术选择了 108 名身体残疾参与者。使用结构化问卷收集数据。
疫苗接种地点（χ=95.480，p=0.001）、进入接种室的机会（χ=84.098，p=0.001）和行动不便（χ16.168，p=0.001）与 COVID-19 疫苗接种呈统计学显著关联。收入水平、对 COVID-19 存在的信念、大众媒体信息和已婚状况增加了接种疫苗的可能性（AOR=1.5，95%CI 0.7-3.4）、（AOR=1.8，95%CI 0.8-4.0）、（AOR=2.5，95%CI 1.5-4.2）和（AOR=2.2，95%CI 1.3-3.9）。二元逻辑回归分析表明，交通成本和年龄（p=0.001）与 COVID-19 疫苗的获取和接种呈统计学显著关联。那些行动不便和说话困难的人发现接种 COVID-19 疫苗很困难（p=0.001）。
婚姻状况、可靠来源的信息、对 COVID-19 存在的信念与 COVID-19 疫苗的获取和接种有关。此外，不支付交通费用会增加接种疫苗的几率。因此，应设立流动医疗队，为那些难以离家的残疾人提供服务。此外，可以采用报销残疾人在交通上的花费的方式，以增加他们获得医疗保健服务的机会。
