scholarly journals Central American Immigrant Parents’ Awareness, Acceptability, and Willingness to Vaccinate Their Adolescent Children Against Human Papillomavirus: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study

Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Lindsay ◽  
Joanna A. Pineda ◽  
Madelyne J. Valdez ◽  
Maria Idalí Torres ◽  
Phillip J. Granberry

Despite increasing interest in understanding the factors influencing awareness and acceptability of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among Latino parents, to date limited information is available specific to Central American parents living in the United States (US). Therefore, this pilot cross-sectional study was designed to explore and assess Central American immigrant parents’ awareness, acceptability, and willingness to vaccinate their children against HPV, and interest in participating in future HPV-associated cancer prevention study. Fifty-six Central American parents, majority immigrant (96.4%; n = 54) from four countries, El Salvador—50% (n = 27); Guatemala—25.9% (n = 14); Honduras—22.2% (n = 12); and Panama—1.9% (n = 1) participated in this study. Participants completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire survey in their preferred language (i.e., Spanish or English). A little over half of the participants were mothers (57.1%; n = 32) and parents’ mean age was 43.2 years (SD = 6.4). The majority was married or cohabitating (76.8%, n = 43), and 39.3% (n = 22) reported having two children. Seventy-five percent (n = 42) of parents reported they had heard of the HPV vaccine. Fewer fathers were aware of the HPV vaccine (58.3%; n = 14 vs.87.5%, n = 28; p = 0.01) than mothers. Among parents who had heard of the HPV vaccine (n = 42), 85.7% (n = 36) reported their children had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine. Fewer fathers reported their child had been vaccinated against HPV (64.3%, n = 9 vs. 96.4%, n = 27; p = 0.06) than mothers. Moreover, 90% of parents (n = 18) whose children were unvaccinated reported willingness to vaccinate their adolescent children against HPV if recommended by their child’s physician. Findings indicate parents’ low to moderate awareness of the HPV vaccine, and high willingness to vaccinate their adolescent children if recommended by their child’s physician. Findings also demonstrate fathers’ lower awareness and acceptability of the HPV vaccine than mothers. Despite limitations and the need for more research, findings of this pilot study serve as a valuable first step toward building a knowledge foundation that is needed for developing future studies and interventions targeting Central American immigrant parents living in the US. Future studies can build on the findings of this exploratory study with other research designs and address its limitations by having a larger sample size and accounting for additional factors associated with Central American immigrant parents’ HPV awareness, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and vaccine acceptability from other communities across the US.

Author(s):  
Ljiljana Markovic-Denic ◽  
Srboljub Milicevic ◽  
Jovana Todorovic ◽  
Vladimir Nikolic ◽  
Olivera Djuric ◽  
...  

We aimed to assess awareness, knowledge, and attitudes of healthy pregnant women towards human papillomavirus (HPV), to estimate factors associated with a positive attitude towards HPV immunization and to assess the uptake of the vaccine among their children. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the University Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Belgrade, Serbia among pregnant women attending their regular gynecological check-ups at the 12th gestational week. Knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccine was assessed using a specifically designed 12-item and 5-item questionnaires. Out of total 265 included women, 79.3% had heard of HPV, and 37.5% knew that HPV vaccine exists. HPV vaccine knowledge score was associated with higher odds for a positive attitude towards vaccination of both female (OR = 4.10, 95% CI 1.50-11.29) and male (OR = 3.71, 95% CI 1.52-9.01) child. The number of children (OR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.04-1.67) and high vaccine knowledge score (OR = 1.64 95% CI 1.13-2.39) were independent predictors associated with willingness to vaccinate child against HPV. The gynecologist was the preferable point of reference for information seeking about the HPV vaccine. Despite relatively high HPV awareness and knowledge among pregnant women in Serbia, about one-third of them are HPV vaccine aware, and are willing to vaccinate their children against HPV.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 727
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Markovic-Denic ◽  
Srboljub Milicevic ◽  
Jovana Todorovic ◽  
Vladimir Nikolic ◽  
Olivera Djuric ◽  
...  

We aimed to assess awareness, knowledge, and attitudes of healthy pregnant women towards human papillomavirus (HPV), to estimate factors associated with a positive attitude towards HPV immunization and to assess the uptake of the vaccine among their children. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the University Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Belgrade, Serbia among pregnant women attending their regular gynecological check-ups at the 12th gestational week. Knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccine was assessed using a specifically designed 12-item and 5-item questionnaires. Out of total 265 included women, 79.3% had heard of HPV, and 37.5% knew that HPV vaccine exists. HPV vaccine knowledge score was associated with higher odds for a positive attitude towards vaccination of both female (OR = 4.10, 95% CI 1.50–11.29) and male (OR = 3.71, 95% CI 1.52–9.01) child. The number of children (OR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.04–1.67) and high vaccine knowledge score (OR = 1.64 95% CI 1.13–2.39) were independent predictors associated with willingness to vaccinate child against HPV. The gynecologist was the preferable point of reference for information seeking about the HPV vaccine. Despite relatively high HPV awareness and knowledge among pregnant women in Serbia, about one-third of them are HPV vaccine aware, and are willing to vaccinate their children against HPV.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 726-736
Author(s):  
Delbert H. Dayton ◽  
Ricardo A. Blanco

This is a cross-sectional study of the anthropometric measurements and neurological evaluation of 559 children under 36 months of age (286 boys and 273 girls) from a rural area of Guatemala. Height and weight were compared with values from well-nourished Central American children which do not differ from North American standards. Head circumference was compared to standards from 14 different studies compiled from the world literature. The analysis of the data showed that the study population was far behind these standards in its physical growth characteristics. Results are presented for the timing of neuromotor skill development by calculation of the 16th, 50th and 84th percentiles for individual neurological functions by the probit method. Comparable data from other populations using the probit method of analysis are generally not available. One exception is the age of walking, which appeared to be delayed approximately four months in the rural Guatemalan children when compared to previous studies analyzed in this manner. These results should not be taken as patterns or norms but rather as a baseline for future studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-42
Author(s):  
Ioanna Charalambous ◽  
Gavriella Ioannou ◽  
Stefania Nikolaou ◽  
Rafaella Theologou ◽  
Anneza Yiallourou ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Seema Kumari ◽  
Aradhana Singh ◽  
Renu Sangal ◽  
Neela R. Sharma

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection and is a causal factor for cervical cancer in virtually 100% cases. Despite the availability of highly effective vaccine against HPV, the burden of this dreaded disease remains high in our country. The aim of this study was to study the knowledge, attitude and practices on cervical cancer and HPV vaccine among adolescent girls of Eastern UP and to study the factors influencing knowledge, attitude and practices towards HPV vaccination among adolescent girls of this region.Methods: This was a questionnaire based cross-sectional study. Purposive sampling was used. Sample consisted of adolescent girls attending Gynecological OPD of a tertiary care center of Eastern UP, for a period of one year and the sample size was 384.Results: The results showed that, only 8.07% participants had heard of HPV infection and 2.08% participants had HPV vaccine knowledge. 35.95% participants agreed that their parents would pay for vaccine and 79.17% participants agreed for vaccination, if it would be free of cost. In total, most of the participants in the sample were found to have a positive attitude towards the vaccine.Conclusions: Although the knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer and its prevention through HPV vaccination, was poor among adolescent girls of Eastern UP region, it was encouraging to find, that most of them had a positive attitude towards HPV vaccination. It was also concluded, that the acceptability would increase, if the Government includes HPV vaccination in the National Immunization Program. If the cost constraint is dealt with, this completely preventable disease could be controlled in our country. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (68) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Larisa Tomescu ◽  
Denis Şerban ◽  
Nicoleta Nicolae ◽  
Florina Borozan ◽  
Ioan Sas

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