Acceptability of Human Papilloma Virus Screening and Vaccination Among Parents for their Daughters in a Rural Setting in Kenya

Abstract

Human Pappiloma Virus (HPV) vaccination can prevent thousands of cases of cervical cancer, hence reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with it. Vaccine acceptance plays a major role in the success of vaccination campaigns. The aim of this study is to determine the acceptance of HPV screening and vaccination among parents in Molo town for their daughters. The broad objective of this study is to determine the factors that influence the acceptability of HPV screening and vaccination among parents for their daughters living in Molo town. The specific objectives of this study are to determine the socio-cultural and economic factors that influence HPV screening and acceptability among parents for their daughters living in Molo, assess knowledge of parentsparents regarding HPV vaccination, determine the parents attitude towards HPV vaccination and find out the acceptance of self-test tampon kits among parents for their daughters living in Molo. This was a cross-sectional study whereby a questionnaire was administered to parents living in Molo town. A community-based sampling method was used to choose the parents used in the study. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants before the questionnaire was administered. The data was analyzed through proportions and stratified by either the mother or the father. Data was summarized graphically using radar charts to show the differences between mothers and fathers. A total of 170 participants were administered the questionnaire out of which 72 were males and 98 were females. The study showed that 97.2% of the males and 93.9% of the females had heard of cancer. Of these, 76.4% of males and 76.5% of females had heard of cervical cancer. 81.9% of males and 71.4% of females agreed that vaccination could prevent cervical cancer with 98.6% of males and 94.9% of females accepting to have their daughters vaccinated against HPV. 85.7% of females were willing to have the self-administered tampon test method for detection of HPV.