Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Epidemiology and Population Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Glob Public Health. 2024 Jan;19(1):2356626. doi: 10.1080/17441692.2024.2356626. Epub 2024 May 25.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a prevalent sexually transmitted infection carrying significant risks ranging from benign lesions to various types of malignancies, represents a matter of great public health concern. Notably, most Arab countries lack public awareness campaigns or national immunization programs. This study aims at assessing the overall knowledge on HPV and HPV vaccination among the Lebanese population, exploring the prevalent attitude on the matter, and identifying barriers and misconceptions that prevent individuals from receiving the HPV vaccine.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in Beirut, on 201 participants aged between 18 and 36 years old. We performed ordinal analysis to assess the trend between Knowledge levels, attitude levels and hesitancy Levels.
Majority of participants (77%) demonstrated a low level of knowledge on HPV vaccination, 50% held a positive attitude, with only 18.4% being already vaccinated. Negative trend was identified between levels of knowledge, attitude and hesitancy (gamma = -0.7415, -value < 0.01; gamma= -0.58, -value < 0.01 respectively). Unavailability or limited access to the vaccine, and misconceptions about HPV immunization were shown to be impeding vaccination.
Analysis of our results strongly suggests that improving knowledge and attitudes is likely to foster trust and reduce hesitancy, thereby promoting higher vaccine uptake.
人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）是一种常见的性传播感染，具有从良性病变到各种恶性肿瘤的重大风险，这是一个非常重要的公共卫生问题。值得注意的是，大多数阿拉伯国家缺乏公众意识运动或国家免疫接种计划。本研究旨在评估黎巴嫩人口对 HPV 和 HPV 疫苗接种的总体认识，探讨对此事的普遍态度，并确定阻止个人接种 HPV 疫苗的障碍和误解。
在贝鲁特进行了一项横断面研究，共有 201 名年龄在 18 至 36 岁之间的参与者。我们进行了有序分析，以评估知识水平、态度水平和犹豫水平之间的趋势。
大多数参与者（77%）对 HPV 疫苗接种的知识水平较低，50%的人持积极态度，只有 18.4%的人已经接种了疫苗。知识水平、态度水平和犹豫水平之间存在负向趋势（gamma=-0.7415，-值<0.01；gamma=-0.58，-值<0.01）。疫苗的不可用或有限获取以及对 HPV 免疫接种的误解被证明是阻碍接种的原因。
对我们结果的分析强烈表明，提高知识和态度可能会增强信任并减少犹豫，从而促进更高的疫苗接种率。
