Agumasie Semahegn

Human papillomavirus vaccine uptake and associated factors among in-school adolescent girls in Harari regional state, Eastern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Objective The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has offered a great promise to reduce the cervical cancer burden, yet its uptake remains limited, and the current evidence is mixed and inconclusive. This study aims to assess HPV vaccine uptake and its associated factors among adolescent school girls. Design A school-based cross-sectional study. Setting Schools in Harari regional state, Eastern Ethiopia. Participants total of 416 female adolescent students, from 1 April 2024 to 30 April 2024. Outcome Uptake of HPV vaccination. Methods A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select study participants. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected data were entered into Epidata V.3.1 and analysed by using STATA V.17.0. A logistic regression model was used to assess the associations between dependent and independent variables. An adjusted OR with 95% CIs was used to declare a significant association. Result Adolescent girls’ uptake of the HPV vaccine was 49.26% (95% CI 42.65% to 56.59%) Being urban residents (AOR=2.59; 95% CI 1.61 to 4.18), having a government-employed mother (AOR=2.60; 95% CI 1.12 to 6.05), availability of health promotion in their vicinity (AOR=4.17; 95% CI 2.01 to 8.66), having a good knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV infection (AOR=1.64; 95% CI 1.05 to 2.57) were significantly associated with uptake of HPV vaccine Conclusion Nearly half of the eligible in-school adolescent girls received the HPV vaccine. Being an urban resident, having a government-employed mother, the availability of health promotion in their vicinity, and having a good knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV infection were significantly associated with the uptake of HPV vaccination. Expanding health promotion and raising awareness of cervical cancer and HPV infection among rural adolescents could increase HPV vaccine uptake.