Attitudes towards human papillomavirus vaccination among African parents in a city in the north of England: a qualitative study

Abstract

BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is sexually transmitted and has been conclusively linked to cervical cancer and genital warts. Cervical cancer is attributed to approximately 1100 deaths annually in UK, and is the second most common female cancer globally. It has been suggested that black African women are more predisposed to HPV infection and cervical cancer. A vaccine has been developed to reduce HPV infection, and in the UK, has been offered to 12–13 year old adolescent girls through schools as part of their childhood immunization programme since 2008. Upon programme initiation, it was noted that vaccine uptake was lower in schools where girls from ethnic minority groups were proportionately higher.The study’s objectives were to explore factors influencing UK based African parents’ acceptance or decline of the HPV vaccine, whether fathers and mothers share similar views pertaining to vaccination and any interfamily tensions resulting from differing views.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted with five African couples residing in north England. Face to face semi-structured interviews were carried out. Participants were parents to at least one daughter aged between 8 and 14 years. Recruitment was done through purposive sampling using snowballing.ResultsHPV and cervical cancer awareness was generally low, with awareness lower in fathers. HPV vaccination was generally unacceptable among the participants, with fear of promiscuity, infertility and concerns that it’s still a new vaccine with yet unknown side effects cited as reasons for vaccine decline. There was HPV risk denial as religion and good cultural upbringing seemed to result in low risk perceptions, with HPV and cervical cancer generally perceived as a white person’s disease. Religious values and cultural norms influenced vaccine decision-making, with fathers acting as the ultimate decision makers. Current information about why the vaccine is necessary was generally misunderstood.ConclusionTailored information addressing religious and cultural concerns may improve vaccine acceptability in African parents.

HPV vaccination in a context of public mistrust and uncertainty: a systematic literature review of determinants of HPV vaccine hesitancy in Europe

“…25,37,71 Concerns about side effects were particularly prevalent among hesitant participants from studies in the Netherlands (2009-2011, 69%), 26,28 Romania (2010, 60%), 79 and Greece (2005-2014, 54%). 31,34,40,42,78 Qualitative results Almost all qualitative articles described concerns about potential side effects of HPV vaccination, [52][53][54][55][56][57]59,60,62,64,66,69,[98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107] often described as fears of long-term side effects not yet identified through trials. 54,55,59,60,62,64,66,69,81,[98][99][100][101][102][103]…”

Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of Immigrant Parents Towards Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination: A Systematic Review

“…Twelve studies were conducted in the USA, three in the UK, one in the Netherlands, one in Denmark, one in Sweden, and one in Puerto Rico. Six studies were conducted in community organizations including faith-based centres like churches and mosques [21][22][23][24][25][26], eight in health and social service agencies [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], two in schools and/or community groups [35,36], another two in social clubs [37,38], and one in a household [39].…”

“…Of the 19 studies, 16 reported on knowledge of the immigrant parents about HPV vaccine (Table 2), 13 reported their attitudes (Table 3) and 10 recorded perceptions (as defined by study author) towards HPV vaccine (Table 4). Four studies reported knowledge and attitudes [21,27,30,37] and one reported knowledge and perceptions [26], seven studies reported on all three outcomes (knowledge, attitude and perceptions) [22,23,29,35,36,38,39].…”

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection in Males: A Need for More Awareness

“…The current trend suggests a relatively low level of awareness on HPV-associated diseases in males and acceptability of vaccination against the virus in most countries but worst in developing nations [75][76][77][78][79]. There are efforts from varying perspectives by different groups to improve the current situation based on findings from some studies [80,81].…”