Motives and attitudes of parents toward HPV vaccination: Results from the initial period of HPV vaccine rollout in Serbia

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is one of the most common viral infections in sexually active population worldwide, and is the main cause of cervical cancer, which is the fourth most common cancer among women. Serbia ranks third in incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer in Europe. We conducted a cross-sectional study considering parents’ motivation for the HPV vaccination of their children. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and a logistic regression model. We found that the strongest motive was “Recommendation from paediatrician” (20.2%), followed by the attitude that HPV vaccine protects against cancers in different localization (15.4%), the motive “It is better to vaccinate a child than expose them to potential risk of HPV infection” (13.3%) and “Feeling anxiety due to a possible infection and cancer in the child” (13.1%). For those parents that vaccinated their child for some other strongest motive, reasons like “Vaccine is free of charge”, “Recommendation from friends and family” and motive „My child received all obligatory vaccines, so I want to receive this one as well“, were significantly more frequently selected. In the group where paediatricians’ recommendation was not a motive for accepting the HPV vaccine, the largest percentage of parents (89.6%) selected motive “HPV vaccine protects against cancers in different localization” and the motive “It is better to vaccinate a child than expose them to potential risk of HPV infection” (78.1%). Paediatrician’s recommendation is very important for parents’ decision to vaccinate, however, other motives also influenced and had significance in making the parents’ decision to vaccinate their children against HPV. Encouraging trust in public health authorities in Serbia, highlighting the advantages of the HPV vaccine and further encouraging healthcare workers to give stronger recommendations can increase the HPV vaccine uptake. Finally, we provided the basis to create more targeted messages that will empower parents to vaccinate their children.

Prevalence of Carcinogenic Genotypes of HPV-Infected Women in a Ten-Year Period (2014–2023) in Vojvodina, Serbia

“…(2023) [52], the strongest motive for HPV vaccination in Serbia was the "Recommendation from a paediatrician", which agrees with studies that named this motive the most important predictor of HPV immunisation [53].…”

“…Over half of World Health Organization (WHO) member countries (63%) have introduced HPV vaccination partially or nationwide [49]. According to our data, high-risk genotypes HPV 16 and 18 were detected in 24% of infections, and, when considering the presence of vaccine genotypes HPV 16,18,31,33,45,52, and 58 in the examined sample, account for 63% of infections (Figure 2). Based on the obtained results related to the distribution of oncogenic HPV in women of Vojvodina, it can be assumed that the application of the 9vHPV vaccine is more appropriate for Serbian women.…”

“…A detailed protocol was previously described by Nikolic et al (2023) [18]. Samples collected during the other six years were tested using the HPV Genotypes 14 Real-TM Quant Real-Time PCR Kit (Sacace Biotechnologies, Como, Italy) to detect and genotype 14 HR HPVs (16,18,31,33,35,39,45,51,52,56,58,59, 66, and 68). E1 gene (HPV 56), E6 gene (HPV 16,31,33,45,59, 66, and 68), E6/E7 gene (HPV 35), and E7 gene (HPV 18, 39, 51, 52, and 58) genotypes were amplified using primers and TaqMan probes in the four separate multiplex reactions each performed in a total volume of 25 µL.…”

Prevencija Karcinoma Grlića Materice

“…Stoga je veoma značajno povećati znanje i informisanost roditelja u pravcu imunizacije, u čemu vodeću ulogu mogu imati medicinski radnici (22). U istraživanju sprovedenom u Srbiji, kao najčešći motiv za prihvatanje HPV imunizacije, navedena je preporuka pedijatra (20.2%), a tek potom svest o zaštiti od HPV uzrokovanih karcinoma (15.4%), zaštiti od HPV infekcije uopšte (13.1%), ili strah od moguće HPV infekcije i razvoja karcinoma kod deteta (13.1%) (23). Istraživanje koje su sproveli Rančić i saradnici je pokazalo jako nisku informisanost studentske populacije o HPV-u i HPV vakcini kod svega 14.2% intervjuisanih (24).…”

Perbedaan Metode Komunikasi Terhadap Sikap Ibu Dalam Penerimaan Vaksin HPV Pada Anak Di Jakarta Barat Tahun 2023

“…Selaras dengan penelitian Zulfa (2021) dan Simajuntak (2023), bahwa dengan memberikan pengetahuan mengenai kanker serviks dapat meningkatkan minat orangtua/ wali pada minat vaksin HPV pada anak dan didapatkan adanya sikap positif dalam penerimaan vaksinasi HPV (Simanjuntak & Sugiharto, 2023;Zulfa et al, 2021). Sedangkan penelitian Strbac (2023) dan Osaghae (2023), didapatkan adanya pengaruh terhadap sikap positif ibu mengenai vaksinasi HPV dengan memberikan konseling dan edukasi serta rekomendasi vaksinasi HPV (Osaghae et al, 2023;Štrbac et al, 2023).…”