Attitudes and Beliefs of Parents About HPV Vaccination in Their Daughters During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross Sectional Study

Objective: This study aimed to determine parents’ current attitudes and beliefs using a standardised scale towards Human Papilloma Virus and its vaccine during COVID-19 Pandemic. Material and Methods: This is a descriptive cross sectional study including a total of 303 parents who applied to a training and research hospital pediatric clinic with a daughter aged 9-18 years old. A demographic variable questionnaire and The Turkish version of the Carolina Human Papilloma Virus Immunization Attitudes Scale (CHIAS) were assessed. Results: The Turkish version of the Carolina Human Papilloma Virus Immunization Attitudes Scale mean± SD scores of harms/barriers/effectiveness/uncertainty factors subgroup were calculated as 2.2±0.6, 2.5±0.7, 2.3±0.7, 2.9±0.8, respectively. 19.8% of parents were aware of Human Papilloma Virus and 22.5% of them declared to be willing to vaccinate their daughters against the infection. Human Papilloma Virus acceptance rate was still modest and lower than for vaccines in general during COVID-19 Pandemic. Conclusion: According to the result of this study, during COVID-19 Pandemic, the both female and male awareness and intention to vaccinate their daughters against Human Papilloma Virus is low. This is the first study analyzing parents’ current attitudes and beliefs using a standardised scale towards Human Papilloma Virus in Turkey and also is the first analyzing this subject during COVID-19 pandemic in the literature. Health education programs given by family doctors, pediatricians and community health professionals to parents is critically important in accepting this vaccine.