In cities in Tanzania, how much school a mom had doesn’t seem to affect whether her baby gets vaccines on time — but in the countryside, moms with more education are much more likely to get their babies vaccinated on time.

Scientific Claim

In urban Tanzania, maternal education is not significantly associated with DTP3 vaccination timeliness, whereas in rural Tanzania, higher maternal education is associated with a 22% lower risk of delayed or incomplete DTP3 vaccination, revealing a stark urban-rural disparity in the role of maternal schooling.

Original Statement

“Greater maternal education was significantly associated with reduced risk of delayed or incomplete vaccination with DTP3 in Morogoro (p-value < 0.001), but there was no significant association of maternal education with DTP3 vaccination in Dar es Salaam.”

From study:Determinants of delayed or incomplete diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination in parallel urban and rural birth cohorts of 30,956 infants in Tanzania

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The study correctly uses 'associated with' and reports p-values and confidence intervals, avoiding causal claims. The urban-rural contrast is appropriately framed as a difference in association magnitude.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Determinants of delayed or incomplete diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination in parallel urban and rural birth cohorts of 30,956 infants in Tanzania

Cohort Study

Human

2019 Feb 26

In rural Tanzania, moms with more schooling have kids who get vaccines on time, but in the city, whether the mom went to school doesn’t seem to matter as much — the study proves this difference is real.

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Determinants of delayed or incomplete diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination in parallel urban and rural birth cohorts of 30,956 infants in Tanzania

Score: 66

DOI: 10.1186/s12879-019-3828-3

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