Personal experience and professional commitment to recommended vaccines in the Pleven district

Introduction: According to the current regulations of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Bulgaria, the administration of the recommended vaccines is implemented at the request of the patient and for a fee. In this context, one of the key functions of the general practitioners (GPs) within the framework of outpatient primary care is to conduct health prevention, including the performance of immunizations. In 2024, the number of general practitioners in the Pleven district with a contract with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) was 176. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the influence of general practitioners’ personal experience and commitment on the implementation and promotion of recommended vaccinations. Materials and methods: In 2024, a comprehensive survey was carried out in the Pleven district covering 82 general practitioner selected at random from a total of 176 registered in the region. To analyse the correlation between the qualitative variables, a χ2 test was applied, with statistical conclusions drawn at a significance level of 0.05. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interview and processed by SPSS Statistics v.26. Results: Data analysis revealed high vaccination coverage among the respondents – 75 (91.5%), as well as significant activity in recommending the additional immunizations – 80 (97.6%). The personal experience with the recommended vaccines had an important impact on the professional behaviour of medical professionals (χ² = 21.964, df = 1, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.518). Conclusion: The present study outlined the significant influence of personal experience with the recommended immunizations on the professional behaviour of general practitioners. That highlighted the need to increase awareness and personal commitment to vaccination among healthcare professionals as a key factor in improving vaccination coverage of the population.