Knowledge and beliefs of Greek parents towards HPV infection and vaccination – are they willing to vaccinate their sons?
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Aikaterini Toska
,
Chrysoula Paraskeuopoulou
Abstract
Objectives
Human papillomavirus (HPV) stands as one of the prevalent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and serves as the primary factor behind nearly all instances of cervical cancer, along with various other non-cancerous conditions like genital warts. Our objective was to explore the knowledge and beliefs of Greek parents regarding HPV infection and the vaccination of boys against HPV.
Methods
A cross-sectional study took place at a university hospital located in the Peloponnese region of Greece, from January to June 2021. The study employed convenience sampling as its methodology, and data gathering involved the distribution of self-administered questionnaires to parents who had at least one son between the ages of 9 and 18 years.
Results
The final sample consisted of 120 individuals. 65.8 % of parents have been informed about HPV vaccination, knew that the HPV vaccine provides immunity against genital warts (50 %), and that minimum of two doses is necessary (46.7 %). 30.8 % intended to vaccinate their boys against HPV if the vaccine were available for males. The most important reasons for vaccination were the perception that both genders share equal responsibility in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (91.7 %) and the protection against cancer (87.6 %), whereas the fear of adverse reactions and the adequate knowledge about HPV-related diseases were most reported as reasons of the intentions to not vaccinate their sons with 31.7 % and 25.8 % respectively.
Conclusions
Although parents participating in the study know about HPV, however, there are significant lack of knowledge regarding HPV infection and the vaccine effects, which can significantly affect the acceptance of vaccination for boys.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge all the parents who have participated in this study for their time and cooperation.
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Research ethics: A signed form was signed by the participants. The study was approved by the Scientific Council of the University hospital (protocol number 01/07.01.2021). The study was performed from January to June 2021.
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Informed consent: Verbal informed consent was obtained from all who consented to participate in the study. Confidentiality of respondents’ information and beliefs was maintained throughout the study. No names appeared on the data collection tool as one way of maintaining confidentiality.
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Author contributions: Aikaterini Toska, Dimitra Latsou: project management, methodology design, study design, supervision, project management, monitoring; Paraskeuopoulou Chrysoula, Evangelos Fradelos, Eleni Albani: data collection, methodology design, supervision, project management; Charalambos Millions, Mary Geitona, Dimitrios Papagiannis: monitoring, data collection, methodology design; Maria Saridi: study design, methodology design, supervision, monitoring. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Competing interests: The authors state no competing interests.
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Research funding: This research received no external funding.
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Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Reviews
- Efficacy of behavioral interventions to increase engagement in sexual health services among LatinX youth in the United States: A meta-analysis for post-pandemic implications
- Electronic nicotine delivery system: a narrative review on growing threat to tobacco control and health of the young Indian population
- Original Articles
- Mindful awareness and resilience skills for adolescents (MARS-A): a mixed-methods study of a mindfulness-based intervention for a heterogeneous adolescent clinical population
- Adolescent health care and perceptions in a provincial hospital in Papua New Guinea
- Adolescents on an inpatient unit and their healthcare providers: what’s working and what’s not
- Adolescent and young adult long-acting reversible contraception post-insertion visit attendance before and after COVID-19
- Knowledge and beliefs of Greek parents towards HPV infection and vaccination – are they willing to vaccinate their sons?
- Prevalence and correlates of unintentional nonfatal injuries among school-going adolescents in Central America
- Prevention starts here: effectiveness of substance abuse prevention module among adolescent students in Bengaluru – a quasi experimental study
- Association of tobacco experimentation with anxiety and depression: findings from a representative sample of Tunisian adolescents
- Knowledge of smoking and influencing factors among school-going adolescents in Timor-Leste
- Tobacco use and oral health related quality of life among Indian adolescents
