Impact of sociodemographic factors on children’s immunization in Bulgaria

Abstract

Introduction: Vaccinations have been touted as one of the ‘‘greatest public health achievements’’, but the rate of under-vaccination in child population is steadily declining, especially in low-income groups. Many studies show, that country-specific parental socio-demographic factors may influence on children’s immunization coverage. Aim: To assess which family socio-demographic factors influence parental vaccine hesitancy. Methods: A survey was conducted among 1195 parents of children under the age of 7y., between 2015-2017, mean age of 30.96.4y., of Bulgarian or other ethnic groups, living in Eastern Bulgaria. Questions about family socio-demographic factors, attitude, beliefs and fears were included. Results: The share of parents who state that they would not have vaccinated their children if the vaccination program was not compulsory is 20.9%. They are mainly in the age range 30- 39(42,4%;Spearman’s = 0,13;o<0,0001), with higher education(57.6%; Pearson’s r=- 0,13;o<0,001), of Bul)