Knowledge and Attitude Toward Human Papillomavirus and HPV Vaccination in Iranian Population: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background and objective: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. This systematic review was performed to provide an overview of knowledge and attitude about HPV infection and HPV vaccine in Iranian population. Materials and Methods: The information was identified by searching international and national databases; pubmed/MEDLINE (NCBI), Embase (Elsevier), Google Scholar, Scientific Information Database, MagIran, and IranDoc. The current research was performed using the terms of medical subject headings (MeSH) and combinations of the keywords including: "human papillomavirus" or "human papillomavirus vaccine" with the words "knowledge," "awareness," "attitude" and "Iran." Studies were evaluated according to the checklist of STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE). Results: A total of 10 observational studies that met the inclusion criteria were included in this review. The overall knowledge and awareness of the Iranian population (parents, women, university students, medical students, nurses and hospital staff) about HPV and HPV vaccination was low; however, the attitude toward this issue was positive and strong. Conclusion: Due to the low levels of knowledge about HPV infection and its methods of prevention, efforts should be increased to enhance the knowledge of the general population about HPV infection and vaccination in order to prevent its incidence and complications.

Low level of knowledge about cervical cancer among Ethiopian women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A global-based review by Klug and colleagues on knowledge about infection with HPV showed that the knowledge of the general public about HPV infection was poor and the proportion of participants who even had heard of the term HPV varied from 13 to 93% [ 34 ]. A similar review article in Iran by Taebi et al corroborated with our report of a low level of knowledge about HPV [ 35 ]. Taken together, women’s knowledge was very low across different continents.…”

Women’s knowledge and attitudes towards cervical cancer prevention: A qualitative study in the Spanish context

“…About HPV infection, our findings suggest that there is insufficient knowledge, as most of the information provided by women was related to the vaccine, in line with other authors’ conclusions (Cadman et al, 2015; Taebi et al, 2019). Few women knew the precise relation between HPV and cervical cancer, in coincidence with another study (Tapera et al., 2019).…”

Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of Immigrant Parents Towards Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination: A Systematic Review

“…Furthermore, another systematic review that explored knowledge and attitudes of Iranian people towards HPV vaccination found that the overall knowledge and awareness about HPV vaccination was low; however, their attitude toward HPV vaccination was positive and strong [42]. This corroborates the findings from three studies included in our systematic review that showed positive attitude towards HPV vaccines once parents were informed about it during focus groups.…”