Knowledge and willingness of parents towards child girl HPV vaccination in Debre Tabor Town, Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Cervical cancer is currently the second-leading cause of cancer death among women in Ethiopia. Vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) is an effective primary prevention strategy for HPV-related illnesses. The knowledge and willingness of parents toward the HPV vaccine are crucial to increasing the uptake of the vaccine. The vaccine's acceptance by children and young adolescents is dependent on parental consent. Therefore, this study aimed to assess knowledge, willingness, and associated factors of the human papillomavirus vaccine among parents of girls aged 9–14 years at Debre Tabor Town. Method A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among participants from December 10, 2020, to January 15, 2021. A simple random sample technique was used to include 638 participants. A structured face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were entered and analyzed using Epi-Data and SPSS software, respectively. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were used to examine the association. The Odds Ratio (OR), 95% CI, and p-values less than 0.05 were used to determine the statistical association. Results Thirty-five percent (35.4%, 95% CI = 31.4%, 38.8%) and 44.8% (95% CI = 40.40%, 48.67%) of participants were knowledgeable about HPV vaccination and willing to get it, respectively. Being government employees (AOR = 5.46, 95% CI = 2.42, 9.34), and having a family history of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) (AOR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.14, 2.72) were significantly associated with knowledge of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine. Participants’ age (AOR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.16, 2.87), secondary education and above (AOR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.05, 2.74), fear of HPV infection (AOR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.21, 4.32), and having good knowledge of the HPV vaccine (AOR = 3.30, 95% CI = 2.21, 4.93) were significantly associated with willingness to receive the HPV vaccine. Conclusion and recommendation The knowledge and willingness of parents toward the HPV vaccine were low. Then, health officials should boost HPV vaccination promotion through public media. In schools, churches, mosques, and health facilities, health extension workers and health professionals provide information about the HPV vaccine for the parents. Mixed quantitative and qualitative studies are preferable for future research to address “why” issues.

Parents’ willingness to vaccinate their daughters with human papillomavirus vaccine and associated factors in Debretabor town, Northwest Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study

“…In this study, parents’ willingness to HPV vaccination for their daughters was higher than studies conducted in the USA, 42%, Argentina, 59.88%, Nigeria, 44.9%, and Ethiopia, 44.8%, respectively. 13 , 16 , 18 , 19 This variation could be due to the differences in study setting and period, study population, and the data collection method. Most of the aforementioned studies were school-based, and the study from Nigeria included only mothers as the study participants.…”

“…This is supported by studies done in Poland, 32 Malaysia, 55 Nigeria, 19 , 21 Kenya, 15 and Ethiopia. 3 , 16 , 20 This might be probably because, due to the seriousness of the disease and people’s fear of developing cancer, parents might seek to protect their daughters from cervical cancer that knowledge of parents to HPV infection and its vaccination is an important factor in the vaccination of their daughters. 19 Knowing the risks and complications of the HPV virus, and the advantages of its vaccination plays an important impute in parents’ acceptance of the vaccine.…”

“…As to the previous studies, the prevalence of parental willingness to vaccinate their daughter varies from region to region ranging from 44.8% (Ethiopia) to 95% (Kenya). 15 , 16 Various factors may influence parental willingness toward the HPV vaccination for their adolescents. Parental age, higher educational level, and monthly income, as well as knowledge, and awareness on cervical cancer, and HPV infection, a positive attitude toward the HPV vaccine, and subjective norms related to important people nearby with regard to vaccination were associated factors for the willingness of HPV vaccine.…”

Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Uptake and Its Predictors Among Female Adolescents in Gulu Municipality, Northern Uganda

“…18 The low HPV vaccination uptake is multifaceted and can be attributed in part to a variety of predictors such as low vaccine knowledge, fear of pain, vaccine side effects, ethnicity, age, sexual behavior, immunization history, and school attendance status. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Besides, some parents' beliefs that HPV vaccination might encourage promiscuity, earlier sexual debut in young girls, and that the vaccine might lead to unsafe sexual behavior were barriers to HPV vaccination uptake. [22][23][24][25][26] According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (2016), only 12% of the targeted population in Gulu Municipality had been vaccinated, and the figure rose by a meager 5% (to 17%) in 2018 (District Health Information Software2, 2018).…”

Public School Adolescents Had Increased Odds of Being Willing to Uptake HPV Vaccinations Owing to Sociodemographic and Healthcare Access Features in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia

“…As far as our knowledge is concerned, little is known about the knowledge of parents toward HPV vaccination and HPV vaccine uptake and associated factors, and school students were the potential with bad attitude toward HPV vaccination uptake [22][23][24]. Since the HPV vaccine was only recently introduced in Ethiopia, more research is therefore needed to determine the adolescents' willingness to uptake HPV vaccine.…”