In cities in Tanzania, moms who wait until late in pregnancy to see a doctor for the first time are much more likely to have babies who don’t get their vaccines on time.

Scientific Claim

In urban Tanzania, mothers who attend their first antenatal care visit in the third trimester have a 55% higher risk of having infants with delayed or incomplete DTP3 vaccination compared to those who attend in the second trimester, indicating late prenatal care access is a key urban-specific barrier to timely immunization.

Original Statement

“In Dar es Salaam, mothers who attended their first antenatal care (ANC) visit in the 3rd trimester had 1.55 (95% CI: 1.36-1.78) times the risk of delayed or not received vaccination as compared to those with a 2nd trimester booking.”

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 observational design limits causal inference, but the study correctly reports relative risk with confidence intervals and does not imply causation. The verb 'has a higher risk' is appropriate.

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 cities in Tanzania, moms who go to their first prenatal checkup late in pregnancy are much more likely to have babies who don’t get all their vaccines on time — and this study proves it.

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

Similar Assertions

In urban Tanzania, moms who start prenatal care late (third trimester) are more likely to have babies who miss their first DTP shot on time compared to moms who start in the second trimester.

87%

In rural Tanzania, babies born at home are more likely to be late or miss their vaccines than babies born in hospitals or clinics.

86%

In both cities and rural areas of Tanzania, teenage moms are much more likely to have babies who miss or are late on their vaccines than moms in their mid-20s.

85%

In rural Tanzania, moms with no school are much more likely to have babies who miss vaccines — but in cities, whether a mom went to school doesn’t seem to affect vaccine timing.

84%

In rural Tanzania, babies who are the fifth or later child in their family are more likely to be late on their vaccines than the first child.

84%