Level of knowledge of mothers, fathers and / or caregivers about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and its influence on vaccination coverage in San Roque neighborhood and nearby, 2017

Abstract

Cervical cancer mortality is not only a public health problem in our country and worldwide. The introduction of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine has become a strategy to the problem. The mortality rate by CCU in Argentina in 2015 was 7.2 deaths per 100,000 women. The introduction of the HPV vaccine is a strategy to the problem and is part of the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health.

The goal of this work was to describe the level of knowledge about HPV of mothers, fathers and caregivers of girls born in the year 2000-2005, and analyze its relationship with HPV vaccination coverage, in the San Roque neighborhood of the city of Córdoba and nearby , in 2017.

A descriptive, transversal and association study was accomplished. The sample was for convenience, with a confidence level of 95% and a sampling error of 5% (n=315). An ad hoc questionnaire was used as an instrument. The content validity of the instrument was assessed through expert judgment. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was carried out, the SPSS software version 20 was used. 

In the whole sample studied, 96.8% of the respondents were women. 26% had full secondary. 53% said they knew the disease, of which only 13% really knew what it meant to have HPV. 73% of the girls had a full card. Significant relationships were observed between educational level and knowledge about HPV and an association was observed between HPV risk awareness and girls' vaccination coverage.

Knowledge about the risk of HPV influenced vaccination coverage. In turn, the knowledge was greater as the educational level increased. An association was observed between the educational level and the knowledge about HPV (greater as the educational level increases p <0.001)