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Human papillomavirus Infection and its Vaccines: Knowledge and Attitudes of Primary Health Clinic Nurses in Kelantan, Malaysia |
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| รหัสดีโอไอ | |
| Creator | 1. K Jeyachelvi 2. S Juwita; D Norwati |
| Title | Human papillomavirus Infection and its Vaccines: Knowledge and Attitudes of Primary Health Clinic Nurses in Kelantan, Malaysia |
| Publisher | APJCP |
| Publication Year | 2559 |
| Journal Title | Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention |
| Journal Vol. | 17 |
| Journal No. | 8 |
| Page no. | 3983-3988 |
| Keyword | HPV vaccination ; primary health clinic ; awareness ; cervical cancer ; Kelantan, Malaysia |
| Abstract | Background: Cervical cancer though preventable is still the leading cause of cancer death among women secondary to breast cancer. Persistent infection with HPV has been causally linked to the disease. A school based HPV vaccination program was introduced in late 2010 in Malaysia and nurse support is essential for its success. Objectives: To determine nurses knowledge and attitudes about HPV infection and its vaccines, and factors associated with their knowledge. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses working at primary health clinics in Kelantan from mid-June till the end of July 2014. Its involved 330 nurses selected through multistage random sampling. A validated self-administered questionnaire consisting of 11 items for the knowledge domain and eight items for the attitude domain was used. Results: The response rate of the study was 93.7%. The mean knowledge and mean attitude (SD) scores were 5.37 (1.76) and 29.8 (3.51) respectively. Only 24% knew that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and 67% correctly answered that Gardasil vaccine can protect against four types of HPV. Nearly 60% of participants wrongly answered that HPV vaccines cannot be offered to sexually active women. Likewise, 70.9% participants were not aware that HPV vaccine may be appropriate for females aged 9 through 26 years. Though 90% of participants believed that the vaccine is safe, nearly half of them were unsure about ef cacy. From multiple linear regression analysis, among the factors tested only participant๊s level of education showed a statistically signi cant association with the HPV knowledge score (p <0.001). Conclusions: This study indicates nurses have favorable attitudes towards HPV vaccination- however they have signi cant knowledge de cit and major misunderstanding in critical knowledge items. Among the factors tested, nursing quali cation is the only factor that is signi cantly associated with the nurses knowledge score. |
