Knowledge on cervical cancer and perceived barriers to the uptake of HPV vaccination among health professionals

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that cervical cancer is preventable and curable in the early stages, it still remains to be a major public health problem in India. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and awareness regarding the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination among health care professionals working in a tertiary care hospital in urban India. METHODS: To this aim, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 318 health care professionals working in tertiary hospitals across Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Our research group designed a structured questionnaire with 31 items to assess the knowledge and attitudes on cervical cancer, its prevention, and HPV vaccination. RESULTS: Among the 318 respondents, 90.6% were aware of cervical cancer, 83.3% were aware that PAP (Papanicolaou) smear test detects cervical cancer, and 86.2% of the respondents knew that HPV causes cervical cancer. 29.2% of the eligible respondents underwent the screening against cervical cancer, and 19.8% of the study participants were vaccinated for HPV. Only 34.9% know that the HPV vaccine could be given to boys. The most common reason for not being vaccinated against HPV was the lack of awareness. In our study, 77.2% of the respondents were willing to be vaccinated and recommend HPV vaccination to their family members. CONCLUSION: From this study, it was evident that there is a lack of awareness about HPV vaccination and its importance in preventing cervical cancer among healthcare professionals. Our finding clearly establishes the need to devise intervention programs to promote vaccination against HPV and periodical screening for cervical cancer among healthcare professionals.