Determinants of knowledge of cervical cancer and human papilloma virus vaccination among female secondary school students in southern Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV vaccination among secondary school students to help raise knowledge for better uptake among target population.
Design and setting: A school based cross-sectional study was conducted among six hundred and thirty female secondary school students in Benin City, Edo state in Nigeria.
Intervention and outcome measures: Data was collected using self-administered structured questionnaires, analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22.0 statistical software to assess knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination categorized as good and poor with level of significance set at p < 0.050 and 95% Confidence interval.
Results: The mean age of respondents was 14.47 ± 1.25 years. Three hundred and fifty-one (55.7%) and 370 (58.7%) had heard of the term HPV and HPV vaccine respectively. Two hundred and twenty-seven (36.0%) of respondents studied had good knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination while 403 (64.0%) had poor knowledge. Age group [OR, 0.357, 95% CI, 0.380 – 0.612; p<0.001], class [OR, 0.768, 95% CI, 0.11 – 0.40; p=0.033] Nuclear family type [OR, 0.297, 95% CI, 0.12 – 0.69; p=0.005] and monogamous family setting [OR, 12.274, 95% CI, 3.67 – 40.93; p<0.001] of respondents were significant determinants of knowledge.
Conclusion: Knowledge of cervical cancer, risk factors and benefit of HPV vaccination was poor among respondents. Integrating cervical cancer awareness into secondary school curriculum with engagement of relevant Government Agencies, Groups and Organization through various media platforms will help raise knowledge