Male partner characteristics providing support for HPV vaccination of married women

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of men who support their partners in getting the HPV vaccine. Material And Methods: All married women (< 26 years) who were admitted to the gynecology outpatient clinic and their husbands were evaluated for participation in the study. Patients’ and all characteristics of male partners were recorded. All male participants answered a survey form including ten statements about HPV and HPV vaccination. Male participants were divided into two groups according to their support or lack of support for HPV vaccination of their wife. Results: In total, 92 men supported HPV vaccination for their partners and 144 men opposed HPV vaccination (support rate: 39%). The mean marriage age, education status and monthly income were significantly higher in favor of men who support HPV vaccination for their wives. The rate of those who stated they were religious was significantly higher in the anti-vaccine group. Safety concerns about vaccine (27.8%), cost of vaccine (26.4%) and belief about HPV vaccine effectiveness (26.4%) were most common reasons for opposing HPV vaccination. Multivariate regression analysis revealed marriage age ≥25 years, education level of high school and university, higher monthly income and not self-identification as religious increased the HPV vaccine support rate. Conclusion: The present study found that men with higher marriage age, higher educational level, higher monthly income, and higher score on the HPV survey were significantly more supportive of their spouses getting the HPV vaccination. In contrast, men who identified themselves as religious had significantly less support for their wife being vaccinated. Keywords: vaccine, immunity, genital wart, human papilloma virus, cervical cancer