Evaluation of Knowledge of human papillomavirus vaccie among parents and guardians

Abstract

Background: Amendments have been made to the Immunization Law of Mongolia, including mandatory immunization against human papillomavirus infection, and school-based immunization of 11-year-old boys and girls is going to be carried out across the country. In this era of new vaccine introduction, assessing parents’ and caregivers’ vaccine knowledge is essential for developing informational strategies for target populations. Aim: To assess the level of knowledge of parents and guardians about the vaccine against human papillomavirus infection. Materials and Methods: Data were collected using quantitative research model, and the results were processed using SPSS 25.0 software. A total of 3057 parents and guardians from 4 aimags, eight soums, and 2 districts of UB city participated in the survey. Results: The majority of participants were mothers (71.69); 74.2 percent of participants were employed, 62 percent had higher education, and parents and guardians aged 36-45 years were involved in the survey. Only 1 in 4 parents or guardians have heard about human papillomavirus infection. Eventually, we suggest that parents’ knowledge level about human papillomavirus infection needs to be improved, and 2.4 percent was rated as good. 60% of parents do not know that HPV infection is expected and what diseases the vaccine protects against. In the scope of our study, we concluded HPV infection and vaccine knowledge differ by age, sex, and geographical location of residence. Conclusion: In order to organize immunization against HPV infection at the national level, it is important to make parents and the public understand the significance of immunization, and to carry out information and training on safety of the vaccine on a large scale.