Human papillomavirus vaccination behavior among Primary school students in hadiya zone, southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common cause of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in men and women. It is also the established causative agent of cervical cancer, penile cancers as well as genital warts in both men and women which prevent with vaccination. Objective: To explore the HPV vaccination behavior and associated factors among primary school female students in Hadiya zone selected districts, in 2021 Method and materials: A mixed-method approach was employed using a survey among 621 female adolescents, qualitative study as supportive and quantitative dominate in this study, in the Hadiya zone from March 10 to June 10, 2021. A total of 633 samples was randomly selected from twelve (seven public and five private) primary schools. The practice was defined as receiving at least one dose of the HPV vaccine recommended schedule. The quantitative data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS version 25.0. multiple logistics regression analysis with a P-value of <0.05 was used to establish the level of association between the dependent variable (i.e., HPV vaccination practice). We interview conducted five key informants and three in-depth interviews. The qualitative data were transcribed verbatim, translated, and followed a content analysis approach. Finally, the findings were presented in tables, and descriptions triangulated with qualitative findings. Result: A total of 621 participants were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 13.83 years (SD= ±1.447), two hundred seven (33.3%) girls got vaccinated. The factors; knowledge towards CC, HPV, and HPV vaccine (AOR 1.53 95%, CI 0.356-0.756), being rural residence of students (AOR 1.657 95%CI 1.107-2.481), accessibility of the HPV vaccine at school (AOR 7.545 (95% CI 4.694-12.29) and being low grade level of the female students AOR 0.520 95% CI 0.351- 0.770) were significantly associated with HPV vaccination practice. Conclusion: HPV vaccination practices for school girls age 11-18 were relatively low in selected schools in the Hadiya zone, efforts to improve at increasing knowledge on HPV vaccination, perceived benefits towards HPV vaccination, being rural residence, accessibility of the HPV vaccine and being low grade level were factors associate with HPV vaccination practice. Families, health sector and schools should work together to improve HPV vaccination practice and reduce its negative influencing factors.