Perceptions, attitude, and knowledge of Saudi parents towards the human papilloma virus vaccine

Abstract

Objectives

HPV infection is a widely acknowledged cause of infection-related cancers globally. However, HPV vaccine is a reliable and risk-free method to avert HPV infection and is advised for children aged from 9 to 14, irrespective of their gender. Therefore, when considering the vaccination for human papilloma virus (HPV), viewpoints held by parents hugely impact their decision to vaccinate their daughters. This study aims to evaluate Saudi parents' comprehension and perception of HPV (human papilloma virus) and the HPV vaccine and its acceptability.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate parents of adolescent daughters. An online questionnaire was conducted using Google form to gather information about socio-demographic data, awareness, and knowledge of HPV, and the willingness to accept the HPV vaccine.

Results

Out of 424 participants, three-quarters of the participants were mothers 319 (75.2%) and 105 (24.8%) were fathers. Over half of the respondents (53.8%) were acknowledged that HPV is a cause of cervical cancer where the relationship was found to be significant in relation to gender. Almost half of the participants (47.0%) were acknowledged that HPV vaccine is used to prevent cervical cancer which was statistically significant in relation to gender (P = .034) but (47.9%) did not know. Encouragingly, levels of vaccine acceptance were high (54.7%) although (41.0%) had a negative attitude towards the effectiveness of HPV vaccine with strong belief that the vaccine can cause serious side effects (67.0%). Parents with family history of cervical cancer and were aware that the vaccine can prevent cervical cancer were positively associated.