Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding human papillomavirus vaccination, among caregivers of girls attending private schools in South Africa

Abstract

The South African government provides human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to public school girls for free. The study aimed to investigate knowledge, attitudes and practices towards HPV vaccination, of caregivers of girls aged ≥9 years in grade 4 to 7 attending private schools in South Africa. Objectives included determining levels of knowledge; describing attitudes; describing practices; and investigating levels of knowledge and attitudes of caregivers associated with HPV vaccination coverage in these girls. Turfloop Research Ethics Committee granted ethical clearance. A link to an online survey (Survey Monkey®, USA) was circulated to caregivers via an email to school principals and a Facebook advert. Epi InfoTM was used for data analysis. While 76.5% of caregivers had good knowledge about cervical cancer and HPV vaccination, 45.3% had positive attitudes towards HPV vaccination and 19.4% of the girls were vaccinated. Caregivers with good knowledge were 3.6 (95% CI: 1.6-8.0; p<0.005) times more likely to have vaccinated their daughters/wards, while caregivers with a positive attitude were 5.2 (95% CI: 2.9-9.2; p<0.05) times more likely. The low HPV vaccination uptake is concerning. Results suggest that a positive attitude towards HPV vaccination is a strong predictor of its uptake.