Knowledge of cervix cancer, human papilloma virus (HPV) and HPV vaccination at the moment of introduction of the vaccine in women in Belgium

Abstract

Upon introduction and marketing of the first HPV vaccine, only 50% of women attending a routine gynecology clinic were aware of the role of HPV in cervix cancer and the possibility of getting a vaccination against it. Unexpectedly, despite a high degree of education, young women seem to have a low awareness of cervix cancer, its cause and the preventive measures. Contrary to some women in the USA, Western European women are less likely to decline the HPV vaccine because it will protect them against STD. In Belgium, women who are childless or poorly educated and especially young women should be the targets of campaigns that motivate them to prevent HPV-induced cervix cancer.

Knowledge Towards HPV infection and HPV Vaccines among Syrian Mothers

“…Knowledge of cervical cancer was acceptable but the level of knowledge was poor when it comes to HPV infection and the HPV vaccine. Donders et al, (2007) found among Belgian women, 50.4% answered cervical cancer is caused by virus compared to only 16.5% of our Syrian mothers who gave similar answer. However, more Syrian mothers (53.6%) said that cervical cancer is preventable compared to Belgian women (41.7%).…”

“…This is also higher compared to earlier studies among Turkish (Onan et al, 2007) and rural American women (Fazekas et al, 2006). However fewer Syrian women had heard of the HPV vaccine compared to 87.5% of Belgian women who had heard of the vaccine prior to introduction of HPV vaccine in Belgium (Donders et al, 2007). These differences could be due to the difference in the way of the questions were asked.…”

“…The lack of knowledge about HPV vaccination was reflected in what the vaccine protects against, how the vaccine works, HPV vaccination recommendations, the vaccine and Pap smear connection, and myths about HPV vaccination. Donders et al, (2007) in their study among women in Belgium found that young age (youngsters, aged 25 years or less) was a risk factor for poorer knowledge about HPV, cervix cancer and the HPV vaccine than older women, 40 years old and more, even though the degree of education in this group of youngsters was significantly higher (79% had a postgraduate or university degree versus 43.4% in the ±40 women, p value = 0.006). Of the youngsters, 27% had never heard of the vaccine versus 15% in the 40+ age group (p = 0.0013); 61.7% versus 39.1% answered that they did not know anything about cervix cancer (p = 0.019), and only 12.8% versus 32.6% knew that HPV was a virus and not a bacterium or cancer (p = 0.01).…”

“…The questionnaire consists of several parts, a part on the socio-demographic and economic background as well as a part for assessing their knowledge of cervical cancer, and HPV infection and vaccination. We developed our questionnaire based on two previous studies by Donders et al, 2007) in Belgium and Onan et al, (2007) in Turkey. Mother's knowledge was tested using a 14 item questionnaire.…”

Knowledge and Attitudes About HPV Infection, HPV Vaccination, and Cervical Cancer Among Rural Southeast Asian Women

“…It is of interest to note that our study was conducted approximately 2 years after the release of the HPV vaccine in our market and before the widespread media coverage. Other studies conducted on urban or a combination of urban and rural populations showed that the intention for vaccination ranged from as high as 96% [36] to as low as 50% [37]. On the whole, in studies with both urban and rural participants, the rural participants were significantly more likely to indicate a negative intention to get the HPV vaccine compared to their urban counterparts [32,38].…”