Awareness of and willingness to be vaccinated by human papillomavirus vaccine among junior middle school students in Jinan, China

BACKGROUND: Willingness to be vaccinated with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among junior middle school students in China is not well understood. We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine and explore the factors associated with willingness to be vaccinated. METHODS: First-year students from two junior middle schools in Jinan, China were selected by cluster sampling on December 28, 2015, December 26, 2016, and January 11, 2017, and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to explore the factors associated with willingness to be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine. RESULTS: A total of 1021 junior middle school students participated in this survey. Only 15.5% of them had heard of HPV and 18.9% of them had heard of the HPV vaccine. Students who were willing to take the HPV vaccine in the future accounted for 66.9%. Factors associated with the HPV vaccination were: urban junior middle school students (AOR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.09-2.09), female students (AOR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.36-2.66), students surveyed in 2015 (AOR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.26-2.28), regarding menstruation/spermatorrhoea as a normal physiological phenomenon (AOR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.14-2.36), believing vaccination is an important way to prevent diseases (AOR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.01-1.83), believing that the first vaccination should be in infancy (AOR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.04-1.92), believing that cervical cancer is a concern for themselves (AOR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.28-2.97), and having heard of HPV (AOR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.13-2.98). CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine among junior students was low, however willingness to be vaccinated was high. Education focusing on HPV-related knowledge in addition to sex education is needed to promote the coverage of the HPV vaccine.