Cervical cancer and hpv vaccination knowledge levels and attitudes towards HPV vaccination of female employees of Aydın Adnan Menderes University Hospital

Background and aim: Cervical cancer, which has a high mortality and increasing incidence in Turkey, may be prevented by adequate and satisfactory preventive health services. Considering HPV vaccination is not yet included in our national vaccination program, healthcare professionals have crucial roles in introducing and spreading the use of HPV vaccination throughout the country. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cervical cancer and HPV vaccination knowledge levels and the attitudes toward HPV vaccination of female health workers at Adnan Menderes University Hospital. Materials and method: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed between 01.07.2020 and 31.12.2020. We aimed to apply the questionnaire (prepared with the current literature knowledge) to all female health workers (doctors, nurses, other health staff) who were working at Adnan Menderes University Hospital. Among all healthcare professionals, 246 employees accepted to participate in our study and the data obtained from the questionnaire forms were evaluated with the SPSS 22.0 package program. p<0,05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 31,1±6,8 years with a mean working duration as a healthcare worker of 5,86±5,7 years. The median knowledge score (out of 22) of the participants were 15, 11 and 8 among doctors, nurses and other health staff, respectively (p<0,001). The education rate about cervical cancer among physicians was 74%, which was statistically significantly higher than the other occupational groups. The willingness to get education about HPV vaccination was found to be 84% among nurses, which was the highest level. All of the doctors, 31% of the nurses and 44% of the other health staff stated that they have recommended HPV vaccination to their social environment. Ten participants (5 doctors and 5 nurses) had received HPV vaccination, but no healthcare worker had vaccinated someone of their relatives so far. Lack of information about the HPV vaccination (38,6%) was the leading cause for not being vaccinated. Other reasons for not being vaccinated were the cost of the vaccine (23,5%), not being able to reach the vaccine (19,9%), the belief of not being in the risk group (18,6%), the fear of side effects (11,7%), the thought that the vaccine would not be protective (5,2%). Among participants, 65,9% of the doctors, 36,2% of the nurses and 23,5% of the other health staff stated that they were planning to have their relatives vaccinated. Although the high levels of recommending HPV vaccine to their social environment, low rates for getting vaccinated among the study participants and their relatives were determined in this study. Conclusion: The knowledge levels about cervical cancer and prevention methods of healthcare professionals should be increased with educational programs to affect their attitudes towards HPV vaccination. With increased knowledge, healthcare workers will be able to guide the society correctly and adequately, and vaccination rates will increase among the community. Keywords: HPV vaccination, cervical cancer, healthcare workers