Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Vaccine. 2011 May 23;29(23):3945-50. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.03.093. Epub 2011 Apr 8.
Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women in Ghana. As of this writing no data are available concerning knowledge, attitudes and acceptability of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination by women in Ghana.
Between November and December 2009, a self-administered survey was used to elicit information from 264 Ghanaian women, ages 18-65.
Overall, 40% had heard about HPV vaccine and 94% were willing to vaccinate themselves or their daughters. Ideal age for vaccination was 12.7 years. Most women (75%) thought the vaccine should be received regardless of one's number of sex partners. The most prevalent concerns were whether the vaccine would be administered safely using clean needles (82%), and possible future side effects (77%). Concerns about cost and vaccine encouraging earlier sex were reported by nearly half. Significant barriers to vaccine acceptance were women's lack of knowledge about the gravity of cervical cancer in Ghana and utility of Pap test in detecting it, low perceived risk for cervical cancer, low social support to vaccine use, and low self-efficacy to find a doctor or clinic to get vaccinated (p<05). About 55% of the women did not know the vaccine only works among those who are not yet infected with HPV. Schools and television were the most preferred methods of educating the public and cervical cancer prevention ranked as the ideal message (80%). Most respondents believed the decision to vaccinate their daughter should be made by both parents (34%) or in conjunction with the daughter (37%), as opposed to the government (17%).
Educational programs addressing specific barriers identified in the current study have the potential to significantly improve HPV vaccine uptake in Ghana.
在加纳，宫颈癌是导致女性癌症相关死亡的主要原因。截至目前，尚无关于加纳女性对人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）疫苗的知识、态度和可接受性的数据。
在 2009 年 11 月至 12 月期间，使用自我管理的调查方法从 264 名年龄在 18 至 65 岁的加纳女性中收集信息。
总体而言，40%的人听说过 HPV 疫苗，94%的人愿意为自己或女儿接种疫苗。理想的接种年龄为 12.7 岁。大多数女性（75%）认为无论性伴侣数量多少，都应该接种疫苗。最常见的担忧是疫苗是否会使用清洁的针头安全接种（82%），以及可能的未来副作用（77%）。近一半的人报告担心疫苗的成本和是否会鼓励提前发生性行为。疫苗接受的主要障碍是女性对加纳宫颈癌的严重程度和巴氏涂片检测的实用性缺乏了解，对宫颈癌的感知风险低，对疫苗使用的社会支持低，以及寻找医生或诊所接种疫苗的自我效能低（p<0.05）。大约 55%的女性不知道疫苗仅对尚未感染 HPV 的人有效。学校和电视是向公众传播知识和进行宫颈癌预防的最受欢迎的方法（80%）。大多数受访者认为，为女儿接种疫苗的决定应由父母双方（34%）或与女儿共同做出（37%），而不是政府（17%）做出。
解决当前研究中确定的具体障碍的教育计划有可能显著提高加纳 HPV 疫苗的接种率。
