Gari Abdulrahim, Ghazzawi Manar A, Ghazzawi Shahad A, Alharthi Shahd M, Yanksar Elaf A, Almontashri Rawan M, Batarfi Raghad, Kinkar Lina I, Baradwan Saeed
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Vaccine X. 2023 Jul 28;15:100361. doi: 10.1016/j.jvacx.2023.100361. eCollection 2023 Dec.
To examine the knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors and human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine among Saudi women of childbearing age.
An anonymous, survey-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2022 to March 2023.
Overall, 422 participants were included in the current study. Most participants were within the age group of 15-25 years old (42.9%), single (47.9%), and educated with a bachelor's degree (70%). Out of a total of 14 points, the average knowledge score for all participants was 7.3 ± 2.31 (range: 2-14). More than three-quarters of the surveyed participants correctly identified the following risk factors for cervical cancer: multiple sexual partners (78.2%), having weakened immunity (82.7%), infection with HPV (82.9%), and positive family history of cervical cancer (88.9%). Concerning HPV vaccine, 153 (36.3%) participants heard about HPV vaccine and only 20 (4.4%) of them were vaccinated. Only 128 (30.3%) participants stated correctly that 9-13 years old is the best age to start HPV vaccine, whereas 51 (12.1%) participants correctly stated the number of HPV vaccine doses to be three over six months. Overall, 167 (39.6%) participants declined to receive the HPV vaccine. The three most frequently reported reasons included not hearing about HPV vaccine (35.3%), fear from HPV-related side effects (30.5%), and apprehension from HPV vaccine injection (16.2%). Among several socio-demographic characteristics, occupation was statistically significantly associated with knowledge score (p < 0.001), with students in health specialties tended to have the highest knowledge score compared with others.
Most participants displayed good knowledge about cervical cancer risk factors, but not about HPV vaccine. Very alarmingly, less than 5% of the participants received HPV vaccine and close to 40% of them declined to receive the HPV vaccine. Mechanisms to increase public awareness about HPV vaccine and its acceptance by women are recommended.
调查沙特育龄妇女对宫颈癌危险因素和人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）疫苗的了解情况。
2022年11月至2023年3月进行了一项基于调查的匿名横断面研究。
本研究共纳入422名参与者。大多数参与者年龄在15 - 25岁之间（42.9%），单身（47.9%），拥有本科学历（70%）。在总共14分中，所有参与者的平均知识得分为7.3 ± 2.31（范围：2 - 14）。超过四分之三的受访参与者正确识别出以下宫颈癌危险因素：多个性伴侣（78.2%）、免疫力低下（82.7%）、感染HPV（82.9%）以及宫颈癌家族史阳性（88.9%）。关于HPV疫苗，153名（36.3%）参与者听说过HPV疫苗，其中只有20名（4.4%）接种过疫苗。只有128名（30.3%）参与者正确指出9 - 13岁是开始接种HPV疫苗的最佳年龄，而51名（12.1%）参与者正确说出HPV疫苗的接种剂量是在六个月内分三次。总体而言，167名（39.6%）参与者拒绝接种HPV疫苗。最常报告的三个原因包括未听说过HPV疫苗（35.3%）、担心HPV相关副作用（30.5%）以及害怕HPV疫苗注射（16.2%）。在几个社会人口统计学特征中，职业与知识得分在统计学上有显著关联（p < 0.001），与其他人群相比，健康专业的学生知识得分往往最高。
大多数参与者对宫颈癌危险因素有较好的了解，但对HPV疫苗了解不足。非常令人担忧的是，不到5%的参与者接种了HPV疫苗，近40%的参与者拒绝接种HPV疫苗。建议采取措施提高公众对HPV疫苗的认识以及女性对其的接受度。
