Human Papillomavirus-Mediated Cervical Cancer Awareness and Gardasil Vaccination: A Pilot Survey Among North Indian Women

Abstract

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-mediated cervical cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide, including Indian women. Cervical cancer control and prevention strategies are being adopted in developing nations to reduce the increasing burden of HPV infection in the vaccine era. The present study, therefore, aimed to evaluate cervical cancer awareness and knowledge of Gardasil vaccination in North Indian women. A pilot survey was conducted among 103 women of North Indian ethnicity residing in Lucknow/adjoining areas in state of Uttar Pradesh, during routine screening/clinic visits from June 2012 to December 2012. The study subjects were interviewed in either Hindi or English; subsequently the awareness of HPV-mediated cervical cancer and knowledge of Gardasil vaccination was assessed in terms of "yes", "no" and "no response". The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. Written informed consent was taken from the participants. Overall, the response of participants (n=103) in our single-centre survey-based pilot study was well-defined. The response regarding HPV-mediated cervical cancer awareness in terms of "yes", "no" and "no response" among the study subjects was 43.7, 44.7 and 11.6%, respectively. Furthermore, in response to knowledge of HPV vaccine Gardasil, out of 103 subjects, 28.1% answered "yes" while 37.9 and 34.0% stated "no" and "no response", respectively. Our pilot survey may help in assessing knowledge of HPV-mediated cervical cancer and Gardasil vaccination awareness in women, and accordingly develop cost-effective cervical cancer control and prevention/public health counseling sessions in a clinical setting.