Abstract
This cross-sectional electronic online or telephone survey assessed the attitudes and behaviors regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and the effect of different factors among a nationally representative random sample of 349 general practitioners (GPs) in Italy. A semi-structured interview was performed between September 2018 and October 2020. Almost all respondents considered the HPV vaccine safe with an overall mean value of 8.8, on a scale ranging from 1 to 10, and 59.9% and 32.6% believed that the vaccination was very effective in preventing the related diseases among 12–26 years’ girls and boys. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that GPs who had received information about HPV vaccination from scientific journals were more likely to have positive attitude towards the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing HPV-related diseases in girls between 12–26 years. A large majority (81.5%) of GPs who provided assistance to girls’ patients aged 11–12 years often or always recommend the HPV vaccine to them, and this behavior was more likely to occur in those who believed that the vaccine was very effective in preventing HPV-related diseases in girls between 12–26 years. GPs were more likely to often or always recommend the HPV vaccine to boys aged 11–12 years if they often or always recommended the vaccine to girls aged 11–12 years, if they believed that the vaccine was very effective in preventing HPV-related diseases in boys between 12–26 years, and if they considered the HPV vaccine very safe. GPs should receive information about the HPV immunization to ensure that they routinely communicate with their patient population in order to achieve better coverage rates.
Highlights
It is well-known that the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is still one of the most serious public health problems in developed and developing countries, due to the fact that it is one of the leading sexually transmitted infections and is associated with genital warts, cervical, anogenital, and oropharyngeal cancers [1,2]
The results revealed that those participants who had received information about HPV vaccination from scientific journals were almost 2.5 times more prone to have positive attitude towards the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing HPV-related diseases in girls between 12–26 years compared to those who did not use this source (Model 1)
Based on the multivariate logistic regression model which examined the impact of different predictors on HPV vaccine recommendations, it was found that General practitioners (GPs) that recommend the vaccination to girls aged 11–12 years were more likely to recommend often or always the HPV vaccine to boys of the same age
Summary
It is well-known that the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is still one of the most serious public health problems in developed and developing countries, due to the fact that it is one of the leading sexually transmitted infections and is associated with genital warts, cervical, anogenital, and oropharyngeal cancers [1,2]. Studies have suggested that the introduction of the HPV vaccination is associated with a decrease of the burden of the diseases [3,4], the uptake is lower than expected in several countries. Health-promoting advice and HPV prophylactic vaccination programs are no doubt one of the major areas to be acted upon. General practitioners (GPs) are called to play this role and they should be familiar with various aspects of HPV and be able to provide evidence-based advice to their patients
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