Knowledge and Acceptability of Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine among Health Colleges’ Students at King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah Saudi Arabia, 2018 (A Cross-Sectional Study)

Abstract

Background: Three types of HPV vaccine were introduced, and they were effective against HPV infection,their efficacy reached 98%. Worldwide, many studies have explored the level of knowledge and acceptabilityscores of the HPV vaccine. Objectives: To measure knowledge and acceptability and their predictorstoward HPV vaccination among the final year of health college students at King Abdul-Aziz University inJeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a self-administered, well-structuredquestionnaire involving 300 students from the final year of male and female health colleges (Medicine,Dentistry, Pharmacology, Medical Technology, and Nursing) at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah,Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Results: This study showed 34.00% good knowledge and 76.00% high acceptabilityamong health college students. A low level of knowledge about the HPV vaccine among Saudi students(32.80%) in comparison with non-Saudis (66.70%) (P ? 0.05). The acceptability of the HPV vaccine washigher in females (80.80%) and was statistically significant (P ? 0.05). The logistic regression analysisshowed that good knowledge level was independently associated with nationality and awareness about thepossibility of preventing cervical cancer, while the acceptability level was independently associated withthe good knowledge score. Conclusion: poor level of knowledge and a high acceptability toward the HPVvaccine offered us a strong push forward to provide the HPV vaccine to the community.