KNOWLEDGE AND WILLINGNESS OF NURSES TO PROMOTE THE USE OF HPV VACCINE AMONG ADOLESCENTS ATTENDING STATE HOSPITALS IN IBADAN METROPOLIS

Abstract

Cervical cancer which is caused by Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst the gynecological cancers worldwide, especially in developing countries. However, HPV is one of the preventable cancers in women and its early detection in the pre-cancerous stage has been the main stay of prevention but many women do not avail the opportunity. The development of HPV vaccine and early administration is a new modality in the control of this disease. Nigeria is on the path to adopting the HPV vaccine and there's need to identify willingness of implementers of immunization one of which are nurses to promote HPV vaccine in the country. This study was carried out to determine knowledge and willingness of nurses to promote the use of HPV vaccine among adolescents attending State hospitals in Ibadan metropolis. A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 370 nurses selected proportionately from four state Hospitals in Ibadan metropolis using simple random sampling where the assigned number was selected from a list of nurses in the facilities was carried out. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire which sought information on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge on cervical cancer, HPV and HPV vaccine, willingness and efficacy of nurses to promote HPV vaccine was used. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and logistic regression with level of significance set at 5%. The mean age of the respondents was 41.9years ± 10.4. Few of the respondents had good knowledge on HPV (13.5%) and HPV vaccine (10.0%) and more than half (68.4%) of the respondents had good attitude towards use of the vaccine. Out of all the respondents, about half were very confident in promoting the use of the vaccine (45.4%). Fifty-one percent of the respondents were willing to administer the vaccine in order to prevent the occurrence of cervical cancer and those that were not willing to promote the vaccine said it was due to inadequate knowledge about the vaccine. Most of the respondents that supported the integration of the vaccine into community programs (31.4%) wanted it so as to create public awareness. Major predictors of willingness were nurses' efficacy to counsel adolescents, nurses being trained on HPV vaccine and regular supply of vaccine to the health facilities. Nurses who were very confident in counseling adolescents were 9.4 times less likely to be willing to promote vaccine use (OR=0. l 06, CI=0.038-0.291). Being trained on HPV vaccine and regular supply of vaccine to health centers were 3.1 and 1.7 times respectively less likely and more likely reasons for respondents to be willing to promote the use of the vaccine (OR=0.324, CI=0.133-0.791; OR=l.791, CI=l.022-3.136). There was poor knowledge about HPV vaccine among nurses in the state hospitals but most of them were willing to promote its use among adolescent. However, to promote the delivery of the vaccine, government should encourage training of health personnel on the vaccine, adequate provision of the vaccine and proper public awareness.