Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1501358

Prevalence and characteristics of HPV vaccine hesitancy among parents of adolescent females across Saudi Arabia

Provisionally accepted
Sahar Othman Sahar Othman Ranya Ghamri Ranya Ghamri *Wala Alhamadah Wala Alhamadah Anwaar Alsatty Anwaar Alsatty Dhuha Khesfaty Dhuha Khesfaty Ohoud Alghamdi Ohoud Alghamdi Ragad Arbaein Ragad Arbaein Alaa M Baglagel Alaa M Baglagel Jumana Khayyat Jumana Khayyat Bushra Almalki Bushra Almalki
  • King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose: Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) is pivotal in preventing HPV-related diseases, including cervical cancer. However, vaccine hesitancy and their related factors among parents of adolescent females present a significant obstacle to achieving high vaccination rates. HPV vaccine hesitancy among parents of adolescents and their related factors have been studied at the regional level in Saudi Arabia, but national-level data are not available. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence and characteristics of HPV vaccine hesitancy among parents of adolescent females in Saudi Arabia.This cross-sectional study was conducted in Saudi Arabia among parents of adolescent females aged 11-17 years between November and December 2022. The participants completed a self-administered online questionnaire containing the validated Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS), which was originally developed in 2015 by the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. Descriptive statistics, univariate binomial regression, and multivariate binary logistic regression were employed for statistical analysis.Results: Among the 667 participants who completed the questionnaire, 34% were hesitant about immunizing their adolescent daughters with the HPV vaccine. A few demographic variables were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy, including lower household income and living in the southern region. In addition, lack of recommendation by their healthcare provider and inconvenience related to immunization with the vaccine were also associated with higher levels of hesitancy.Arabia. More effort needs to be directed towards educating parents, especially during doctor's visits, in order to increase the acceptance and vaccination rates.

    Keywords: Vaccine, Adolescent, HPV, Prevalence, Saudi Arabia HPV vaccine, Immunization, Vaccination, Sexually Transmitted Diseases

    Received: 24 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Othman, Ghamri, Alhamadah, Alsatty, Khesfaty, Alghamdi, Arbaein, Baglagel, Khayyat and Almalki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ranya Ghamri, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.