Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. The causal relationship between HPV and cervical cancer is one of the most important advances in the field of the prevention of this disease. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved two vaccines to prevent HPV infection.
Objective: To assess the degree of knowledge about HPV and the acceptance of the vaccine against these viruses in mothers of 9 to 15 years old female students from the city of Durango, Mexico.
Material and method: A prospective, observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study of 470 mothers. The selection was made through random sampling stratified by age and socio-economic status of students from public and private schools in the city of Durango. We applied a questionnaire of 60 questions, 12 open and 48 closed. Groups of acceptance of the vaccine were compared by Student's t and chi2, depending on the type of variable. Reasons for prevalence of non-acceptance and its 95% of risk confidence interval were estimated.
Results: The 94% of the women surveyed knew about the vaccine. The 89% would accept vaccination of their daughters if it was free of charge, but only 40% would be willing to buy it; 88% considered that was important to their daughters to receive extensive information about the vaccine from nine years of age. The risk factors identified in this study to not allow vaccination were: not knowing the existence of the vaccine, which increased this risk 3.5 times; not having comprehensive information of the sexually transmitted diseases, which increased it by 2.49 times; and the fear to initiate their sexual life at younger age, which raised it 4.58 times. No difference was found in acceptance to the vaccine for religious or socio-economic reasons; 9% of mothers did not accept the vaccine despite of knowing its existence and the role of HPV in the genesis of cervical cancer.
Conclusion: The vast majority of surveyed mothers accepted vaccination. The degree of knowledge about the vaccine is an important factor for its acceptance.