Peer-reviewed article
Knowledge and acceptability of the human papillomavirus vaccine and associated factors among adolescent girls in public primary schools in Dessie Town, South Wollo, Northeast Ethiopia, 2020: A cross-sectional study.
Negesse Simegn Y, Wossen Samuel A, Gebresilasie Kelelew R, Mohammed LA, Liyew AD et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined knowledge of and willingness to accept the HPV vaccine among 844 adolescent girls in schools in Dessie Town, Ethiopia. About 47% of girls knew about the HPV vaccine and 43% were willing to accept it. Key factors influencing knowledge included the girl's age, her father's education level, and whether parents talked to her about sexual and reproductive health. Acceptance was higher among girls whose fathers were educated, who knew about Pap smear tests, and who already knew about the HPV vaccine.
Key points
- 47% of adolescent girls had knowledge of the HPV vaccine
- Approximately 43% of girls were willing to accept the HPV vaccine
- Father's educational level was associated with both knowledge and acceptance of the vaccine
- Parent-child communication about sex and reproductive health was linked to better knowledge of the vaccine
- Knowledge of Pap smear tests and knowledge of HPV vaccine itself were strong predictors of vaccine acceptance
Limitations
The study used only girls from public primary schools in one town, so results may not apply to girls in rural areas, private schools, or other regions of Ethiopia. The cross-sectional design prevents determining whether factors caused knowledge and acceptance or were simply associated with them.
Abstract
Objective To assess the knowledge and acceptability of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the associated factors among adolescent girls in public primary schools in Dessie Town, South Wollo, Northeast Ethiopia in 2020. Design, participants and methods This was an institutional cross-sectional study conducted from 1 November to 30 November 2020 among 844 adolescent girls. A systematic random sampling method was used to select participants, who completed a pretested, self-administered questionnaire. Data were entered into EpiData V.4.6 and exported to SPSS V.25 for analysis. A binary logistic regression model identified the contributing factors to HPV vaccine knowledge and acceptance. Adjusted OR (AOR) and 95% CI computed at p<0.05 were used to assess significance levels. Main outcome measures The primary outcomes of interest were knowledge and acceptability of the HPV vaccine. Results The HPV vaccine is known and acceptable to 47% and approximately 43% of the respondents, respectively. Age (AOR=3.51, 95% CI 1.62 to 7.6), father's educational level (AOR=2.62, 95% CI 1.57 to 4.38) and parent-child communication about sex and reproductive health (AOR=1.94, 95% CI 1.36 to 2.76) were associated with knowledge of the HPV vaccine. Acceptance of the HPV vaccine was significantly influenced by fathers' educational level (AOR=1.88, 95% CI:1.02 to 3.29), knowledge of Pap smear tests (AOR=2.54, 95% CI 1.79 to 3.62) and knowledge of the HPV vaccine (AOR=5.30, 95% CI 3.77 to 7.73). Conclusion In this study, there was generally good and high acceptance of the HPV vaccine, respectively, compared with a study conducted in Southwest Ethiopia. The study, however, had limitations in terms of recall bias, assessment of coverage/effectiveness over time and generalisability due to the institutional sample used.