Parental perspectives: a mixed method study on perceived risk, self-efficacy, vaccine response efficacy, and willingness for adolescent HPV vaccination in Puducherry, South India
Abstract
Background
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in India. To reduce its incidence, the government is set to roll out a Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for adolescent girls.
Objectives
To find the association between risk perception, self-efficacy, vaccine response efficacy and willingness to vaccinate adolescents (9–18 years) against HPV and to explore factors associated with willingness for vaccination among adolescent girls, their parents and healthcare workers.
Methods
A mixed-method study was conducted among parents of adolescent girls aged 9–18 using multistage simple random sampling in Puducherry. After a brief education session, a self-developed and validated questionnaire was used to assess perceived risk, self-efficacy, vaccine response efficacy and willingness for HPV vaccination. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were used for analysis.
Results
Out of 388 participants, majority (78.1 %) had heard of cervical cancer, and 6.2 % were aware of HPV infection. Of the participants, 44.8 % (95 % CI: 39.9–49.8 %) had a high perceived risk, 49 % (95 % CI: 44.0–53.9 %) had low self-efficacy, and 70.9 % (95 % CI: 66.2–75.2 %) believed in high vaccine response efficacy. Additionally, 91.5 % of participants were willing to vaccinate under a universal immunisation schedule, and only 44.1 % from private providers. Participants who were willing to vaccinate had a higher risk perception of HPV infection and cervical cancers, high belief in vaccines and low self-efficacy in their own health (p<0.001) compared to those who were not willing for HPV vaccination.