Knowledge of human papillomavirus infection and its prevention among adolescents and parents in the greater Milan area, Northern Italy

Abstract

BackgroundIn order to be widely accepted by users, the implementation of a new health intervention requires them to be adequately informed about its clinical importance, benefits and risks. The aim of this study was to provide data on the knowledge of Italian adolescents and parents concerning human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and its prevention in order to allow the development of adequate training programmes.MethodsBetween 2 May and 15 June 2008, we made a cross-sectional survey of 863 high school students and 2,331 parents of middle and high school students using two anonymously completed questionnaires covering the knowledge of HPV infection and related diseases, and attitudes to vaccinations. The approached schools were a convenience sample of the schools of the greater Milan area, Northern Italy.ResultsMore mothers than fathers were aware that HPV infection could concern their children (58% vs 53%; p = 0.004) and were favourable towards vaccinating their children against HPV (68% vs 65%; p = 0.03); among the students, more females than males were aware that HPV infection could concern themselves (45% vs 26%; p < 0.001) and would undergo vaccination against HPV (68% vs 40%; p < 0.001). The parents' propensity to vaccinate their children against HPV was significantly associated with professing the Catholic religion (odds ratio - OR = 0.61, 95% confidence interval - CI 0.46-0.82, being atheist), the gender of the offspring (OR = 1.88, 95% CI 1.53-2.30, having at least one daughter), a propensity to vaccinations in general (OR = 23.1, 95% CI 13.7-38.8), a knowledge that HPV vaccine is aimed at preventing cervical cancer (OR = 2.31, 95% CI 1.69-3.16), and an awareness that HPV could affect their own children (OR = 3.52, 95% CI 2.89-4.29). The students who were aware that HPV infection could affect themselves were more in favour of to HPV vaccination, regardless of whether they were male (OR = 5.73, 95% CI 2.85-11.5) or female (OR = 2.39, 95% CI 1.66-3.46).ConclusionsBoth students and parents seem to underestimate the likelihood of HPV infection, and this is associated with a lower propensity for vaccination. This is an important indication for future training programmes concerning HPV prevention designed to increase the acceptance of HPV vaccine in families.

An Exploratory Study of Japanese Fathers' Knowledge of and Attitudes towards HPV and HPV Vaccination: Does Marital Status Matter?

“…Compared to one Honduran study (Perkins et al, 2012) and one German study (Kuznetsov et al, 2012) where 22% and 29% of fathers, respectively, had heard of HPV, awareness in this study was slightly higher at 37%, but considerably lower than a recent Italian study where 77% of fathers had heard of HPV (Pelucchi et al, 2010). Higher education level in the Italian study is suggested to be one of the reasons for the difference.…”

“…It was also similar to fathers in Honduras (94%) (Perkins et al, 2012) and considerably higher (65%) than the Italian study (Pelucchi et al, 2010), indicating that father's awareness of HPV is not a measure of HPV vaccine acceptance. While all single fathers in both the present and Honduran study indicated they would vaccinate their daughter against HPV, our study did highlight some issues specific to these fathers, such as talking about the sexual nature of HPV or place of vaccination, that need to be addressed.…”

Acceptance of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine by Adolescent Girls and Their Parents in Turkey

“…In this study, 43.5% of adolescent girls wished to be vaccinated against HPV. Similarly, the rate of willingness to be vaccinated varies in a wide range in the literature, notably 48% (Wong et al, 2010), 49% (Mortensen ., 2010), 60.2% (Zimet et al, 2010), 68% (Pelucchi et al, 2010), and 81.7% (Di Giuseppe et al, 2008). In this study, the fact that approximately half of the girls wished to be vaccinated against HPV although none of them had been vaccinated suggests that adolescents girls are ready for vaccination.…”

“…Knowledge on HPV vaccines has been reported to be a significant factor affecting the decision for vaccination. On the other hand, the individual's finding herself at risk for HPV infection and related diseases is also an important factor affecting the decision for vaccination (Fazekas et al, 2008;Bendik et al, 2011;Pelucchi et al, 2010). In this study, 21.3% of adolescent girls did not wish to be vaccinated against HPV as they did not find themselves at risk.…”

Validez de Contenido: Cuestionario de Vulnerabilidad al Papillomavirus Humano

“…Un bajo nivel de conocimientos, combinado con una baja percepción del riesgo de contraer la infección por el VPH incrementa la probabilidad de contagio (19) . Por lo tanto, un primer paso para la modificar los comportamientos de riesgo es lograr que las personas reconozcan la existencia de la infección por el VPH e incrementen su percepción de riesgo de adquisición (13,14,23) , un paso siguiente es lograr que las personas utilicen los servicios de salud para el diagnóstico, tratamiento y seguimiento de los daños producidos por la evolución del VPH (12)(13)(14)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27) .…”