Community and Environmental Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Community and Environmental Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, The University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
J Infect Public Health. 2020 Apr;13(4):584-590. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2019.09.002. Epub 2019 Sep 27.
Cervical cancer is considered the second most common type of cancer in women worldwide, with a reported 570,000 incident cases documented each year. Infection with certain types of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be associated with more than 99% of cervical cancers. The HPV vaccine can prevent HPV infection and most cases of cervical cancers; however the uptake of this vaccine remains low in Saudi Arabia. Physicians can play a vital role in providing their patients with objective information regarding the HPV vaccine, yet little is known about their knowledge, attitudes, and practices in this area.
We conducted a cross-sectional study in King Abdul-Aziz Medical City (KAMC), Central Region, Saudi Arabia where data were collected through an online questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians.
Most physicians (61%) displayed a good level of knowledge about cervical cancer; 94% were knowledgeable of the causative link between (HPV) infection and cervical cancer. Family medicine physicians had better knowledge regarding cervical cancer, HPV, and HPV vaccination than pediatricians (p=0.023). Physicians with >10 years of practice had better knowledge of cervical cancer than other respondents (p=0.041). 80% of the sample thought it was important for women to receive the HPV vaccine and 82% stated they would allow their daughters to be given the HPV vaccine. Lack of parental knowledge of the vaccine was significantly (p=0.034) associated with a lack of knowledge about HPV, and this was one of the most common barriers preventing recommendation of the HPV vaccine.
With the increasing prevalence of HPV infections, better knowledge of HPV infection, HPV-related diseases, and the availability of HPV vaccinations from health professionals will assist with the implementation of effective prevention and treatment programmes.
宫颈癌被认为是全球女性第二大常见癌症，每年报告的新发病例约为 57 万例。某些类型的人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）感染已被发现与超过 99%的宫颈癌有关。HPV 疫苗可以预防 HPV 感染和大多数宫颈癌病例；然而，在沙特阿拉伯，这种疫苗的接种率仍然很低。医生可以在为患者提供有关 HPV 疫苗的客观信息方面发挥重要作用，但对于他们在这方面的知识、态度和实践知之甚少。
我们在沙特阿拉伯中部地区的阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹国王医疗城（KAMC）进行了一项横断面研究，通过在线问卷收集数据，以评估医生的知识、态度和实践。
大多数医生（61%）对宫颈癌有较好的了解；94%的人了解（HPV）感染与宫颈癌之间的因果关系。家庭医学医生对宫颈癌、HPV 和 HPV 疫苗接种的了解优于儿科医生（p=0.023）。具有 10 年以上实践经验的医生对宫颈癌的了解优于其他受访者（p=0.041）。80%的样本认为女性接种 HPV 疫苗很重要，82%的人表示他们会让女儿接种 HPV 疫苗。父母对疫苗缺乏了解与对 HPV 的了解不足显著相关（p=0.034），这是阻止推荐 HPV 疫苗的最常见障碍之一。
随着 HPV 感染的流行率不断上升，卫生专业人员更好地了解 HPV 感染、HPV 相关疾病以及 HPV 疫苗的可获得性，将有助于实施有效的预防和治疗计划。
