Parents' Knowledge and Attitude towards HPV and HPV Vaccination in Poland.

Katarzyna Smolarczyk,Anna Duszewska,Slawomir Drozd,Slawomir Majewski

doi:10.3390/vaccines10020228

Katarzyna Smolarczyk, Anna Duszewska + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10020228

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Abstract

HPV is one of the diseases of civilization that causes cervical cancer, among other diseases. For this reason, a vaccination program has been introduced worldwide for preadolescent, sexually inactive seronegative girls. However, the decision to vaccinate young girls must be made by the parents. In Poland, vaccinations are recommended but not financed by the government, which affects their choices, and there is insufficient knowledge of the diseases caused by genital HPV types. In addition, there are cultural, social, and even religious factors to be considered. Therefore, the aim of the study was to analyze the state of knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccines among parents. Two hundred and eighty-eight parents participated in the study, but only 180 of them declared that they had ever heard of HPV (62.5%). Therefore, only these parents completed the entire questionnaire consisting of 34 questions. The parents’ answers were analyzed with the Fisher’s and chi-squared tests. The study showed that parents’ knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination in Poland is low (49.4% of correct answers). Parents’ attitudes were only influenced by knowledge and education and not by other parameters such as age, gender, place of residence, and the number of children. This study indicates that parents need to be educated about the threats of HPV and the possibilities of prophylactic vaccination.

Highlights

There are more than 207 types of Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) [3], most of which do not cause any symptoms, lesions, or warts and are referred to as low-oncogenic
HPV vaccination may prevent diseases related to papillomaviruses, including cervical cancer
That the attitude of parents may be influenced by many factors, and one of the key influencing factors in Poland is the lack of recommendations and financing by the National Health Fund

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. There are more than 207 types of HPV [3], most of which do not cause any symptoms, lesions, or warts and are referred to as low-oncogenic (types). Some types of HPVs are highly oncogenic and can induce intraepithelial neoplasia or cancers [2,4]. Cervical cancer is associated with types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 68, 73, 82, and especially 26, 53, and 66 [2]. In the European population, eight types are of particular importance (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45, 56, and 58), with 16 and 18 being responsible for 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer [5]

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