Knowledge, attitude and practice of HPV vaccination in undergraduate medical and nursing students

Abstract

Background: In Indonesia, cervical cancer ranks as 2nd leading cause of female cancer. The primary prevention (HPV vaccination) is available, but in Indonesia the HPV vaccine uptake is still low. There is still limited information about barriers leading to low HPV vaccine uptake in developing countries. The aim of this study is to compare the knowledge, attitude and practice of HPV vaccination between medical and nursing students in Indonesia. Methods: This is a cross sectional study that took place in Pelita Harapan University. We included undergraduate students aged 17 years and above. Knowledge and attitude was assessed using a standardized validated questionnaire that was taken from previous studies. A person that has completed all 3 rounds of HPV vaccine is said to have good vaccination practice. Other baseline characteristics was also taken during interview. Analysis was done using Chi-Square or Fisher Exact Test. Results: A total of 218 undergraduate students were included, out of which 120 (55.0%) were medical students and 98 (45.0%) were nursing students. There were 56 (25.8%) male and 162 (74.2%) female students. Median age of the students was 19 (16-23) years. There were 78 (36.0%) first, 81 (37.1%) second, 40 (18.3%) third and 19 (8.6%) fourth year students respectively. Good knowledge was more common in medical rather than nursing students (73.4% vs. 32.7%; p < 0.001). Good attitude was more common in medical rather than nursing students (92.3% vs. 69.4%; p < 0.001). Good practice was more common in medical rather than nursing students (16.7% vs. 2.0%; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Medical students have significantly better knowledge, attitude and practice of HPV vaccination when compared with nursing students. This study also shows that HPV vaccine coverage is still very low in undergraduate students. Medical professionals need to find new strategies to increase the vaccine uptake among these students.