Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, College of Health Sciences, Safat, Kuwait.
Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2023 Dec 31;19(1):2194772. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2194772. Epub 2023 Apr 2.
A substantial burden of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and HPV-related cancers can be mitigated by vaccination. The current study aimed to investigate the willingness of female students at the University of Kuwait to get HPV vaccination and its possible association with general vaccine conspiracy beliefs (VCBs). This cross-sectional survey study was conducted during September-November 2022 using a validated VCB scale as the survey instrument. The final sample comprised 611 respondents with a median age of 22 y and a majority of Arab ethnicity ( = 600, 98.2%). Only 360 respondents (56.9%) heard of HPV before participation and these students showed an above-average level of HPV knowledge (mean knowledge score of 12.7 ± 2.6 out of 16 as the maximum score), of whom only 33 self-reported HPV vaccine uptake (9.2%). The willingness to accept free-of-charge HPV vaccination was seen among 69.8% of the participants, with 20.1% who were hesitant and 10.1% who were resistant. The acceptance of HPV vaccination if payment is required was 23.1%. Reasons for HPV vaccine hesitancy/resistance included complacency to the HPV disease risks, lack of confidence in HPV vaccination, and inconvenience. The embrace of VCBs was associated with significantly higher odds of HPV vaccine hesitancy/resistance. The current study showed the detrimental impact of endorsing vaccine conspiracy beliefs manifested in lower intention to get HPV vaccination among female university students in Kuwait. This should be considered in vaccine promotion efforts aiming to reduce the burden of HPV cancers.
接种疫苗可以显著减轻高危型人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）感染和 HPV 相关癌症的负担。本研究旨在调查科威特大学女学生接种 HPV 疫苗的意愿及其与一般疫苗阴谋信念（VCB）的可能关联。这项横断面调查研究于 2022 年 9 月至 11 月进行，使用经过验证的 VCB 量表作为调查工具。最终样本包括 611 名受访者，中位年龄为 22 岁，大多数为阿拉伯裔（n=600，占 98.2%）。只有 360 名受访者（56.9%）在参与前听说过 HPV，这些学生表现出高于平均水平的 HPV 知识（16 分满分，平均知识得分为 12.7±2.6），其中只有 33 名学生（9.2%）自述接种了 HPV 疫苗。69.8%的参与者愿意接受免费 HPV 疫苗接种，20.1%的人犹豫不决，10.1%的人表示抵制。如果需要付费，有 23.1%的人愿意接种 HPV 疫苗。HPV 疫苗犹豫不决/抵制的原因包括对 HPV 疾病风险的自满、对 HPV 疫苗接种缺乏信心以及接种不便。对 VCB 的认可与 HPV 疫苗犹豫不决/抵制的可能性显著增加相关。本研究表明，在科威特女大学生中，对疫苗阴谋信念的认可会对 HPV 疫苗接种意愿产生不利影响。在旨在降低 HPV 癌症负担的疫苗推广工作中，应考虑这一点。
