Rohova Maria, Mihaylov Nikolay L, Dimova Antoniya, Pancheva Rouzha
Department of Healthcare Economics and Management, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
Vaccines (Basel). 2025 Jul 29;13(8):804. doi: 10.3390/vaccines13080804.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Medical and nursing students, as future healthcare professionals, influence public trust and vaccine acceptance. Knowledge gaps or misconceptions regarding immunization may undermine their confidence and effectiveness in addressing vaccine hesitancy. This study explores perceptions and attitudes toward childhood vaccination among Bulgarian healthcare students and factors shaping these outcomes.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2024, using an online self-administered questionnaire completed by 374 medical and nursing students. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze vaccine-related responses, comparing attitudes between healthcare programs and education years. Binomial logistic regression was applied to identify predictors of support for mandatory vaccination, first considering demographic and academic variables, and then adding students' beliefs and common misconceptions.
Medical students showed more positive attitudes toward vaccination than nursing students, with 96.8% of medical students versus 89.4% of nursing students believing vaccines are effective ( = 0.005). Students in advanced years demonstrated stronger belief in vaccine effectiveness ( = 0.038). Additionally, misbeliefs about the measles vaccine causing autism decreased significantly, with most students in higher years rejecting this misconception ( = 0.009). Logistic regression revealed that belief in following the vaccine schedule (OR = 22.71; < 0.001) and confidence in vaccine effectiveness (OR = 10.20; < 0.001) were the strongest predictors of support for mandatory vaccination, with attitudinal factors explaining over half of the variance.
Healthcare students' attitudes about vaccination influence public health outcomes, as their perspectives reflect experience and beliefs. Targeted vaccine education helps address misconceptions and improve vaccination rates.
背景/目的：医学和护理专业学生作为未来的医疗保健专业人员，会影响公众信任和疫苗接受度。关于免疫接种的知识差距或误解可能会削弱他们解决疫苗犹豫问题的信心和效果。本研究探讨保加利亚医学生对儿童疫苗接种的看法和态度以及影响这些结果的因素。
2024年进行了一项横断面调查，使用在线自填问卷，由374名医学生和护理专业学生完成。描述性统计用于分析与疫苗相关的回答，比较不同医疗保健项目和教育年份之间的态度。应用二项逻辑回归来确定支持强制接种疫苗的预测因素，首先考虑人口统计学和学术变量，然后加入学生的信念和常见误解。
医学生对疫苗接种的态度比护理专业学生更积极，96.8%的医学生认为疫苗有效，而护理专业学生为89.4%（P = 0.005）。高年级学生对疫苗有效性的信念更强（P = 0.038）。此外，关于麻疹疫苗会导致自闭症的错误观念显著减少，大多数高年级学生拒绝这种误解（P = 0.009）。逻辑回归显示，相信遵循疫苗接种计划（OR = 22.71；P < 0.001）和对疫苗有效性的信心（OR = 10.20；P < 0.001）是支持强制接种疫苗的最强预测因素，态度因素解释了超过一半的差异。
医学生对疫苗接种的态度会影响公共卫生结果，因为他们的观点反映了经验和信念。有针对性的疫苗教育有助于消除误解并提高疫苗接种率。
