Knowledge, Decision-Making and Acceptance of Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination among Parents of Primary School Students in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia

BACKGROUND: The incidence of cervical cancer in younger women remains high. This is worrisome as it affects future generations. Therefore Malaysia implements human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination as a national vaccination program. Parents play an important role in determining the success of this HPV vaccination program among school-aged girls by their compliance. Objective: To assess parental knowledge, decision-making and acceptance of HPV vaccination. METHODS: This cross sectional study was conducted among 280 randomly selected parents of primary school students aged 11 in Kota Bharu using a pre-validated self-administered questionnaire to assess knowledge and decision-making with regard to HPV vaccination. RESULTS: Most parents (62%) were shown to have poor knowledge while most decision-making was shared. Age of respondents (adjusted odds ratio ‘AOR’= 1.09; 95% confidence interval ‘CI’= 1.04-1.14; p <0.001) and good knowledge of HPV vaccination (AOR= 16.32; 95% CI= 7.32-36.4; p <0.001) were significantly associated with HPV vaccine acceptance. CONCLUSION: The majority of parents exhibited poor knowledge which may affect their decision-making and uptake of HPV vaccination among their children. This highlights the need to better educate parents on HPV vaccination.