IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i15p5362-d389802.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Human Papilloma Virus Infection and Vaccination: Pre-Post Intervention Analysis on Knowledge, Attitudes and Willingness to Vaccinate Among Preadolescents Attending Secondary Schools of Palermo, Sicily

Author

Listed:
  • Claudio Costantino

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Emanuele Amodio

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Francesco Vitale

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Cecilia Trucchi

    (A.Li.Sa. Liguria Health Authority, 16100 Genoa, Italy
    IRCCS San Martino Hospital, 16100 Genoa, Italy)

  • Carmelo Massimo Maida

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Stefania Enza Bono

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Francesca Caracci

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Claudia Emilia Sannasardo

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Francesco Scarpitta

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Carlotta Vella

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Gianmarco Ventura

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Giancarlo Icardi

    (IRCCS San Martino Hospital, 16100 Genoa, Italy
    Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, 16100 Genoa, Italy)

  • Alessandra Casuccio

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

  • Vincenzo Restivo

    (Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Excellence Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy)

Abstract

In recent years, vaccination coverage rates against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in Europe have shown a decreasing trend and remain below the required standard. The present study aims to assess knowledge and attitudes regarding HPV infection and vaccination among a representative sample of preadolescents of Palermo, Italy. A survey was carried out throughout two questionnaires, before and after carrying out an educational intervention scheduled during school hours. A total of 1702 students attending first-grade secondary schools of the province of Palermo were enrolled (response rate 68.9%). Students attending third classes (adj OR = 1.18; CI 95% 1.03–1.36), being of higher socioeconomic status (adj OR = 1.35; CI 95% 1.05–1.73), who had previously received information about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) at home (adj OR = 1.62; CI 95% 1.27–2.07) or at school (adj OR = 2.15; CI 95% 1.70–2.71) and who had ever heard in the past about HPV (adj OR = 1.80; CI 95% 1.42–2.29) showed a significantly higher baseline level of knowledge regarding HPV. Willingness to receive HPV vaccination, in a 10-point Likert scale, significantly increased between the pre- (8.51; SD ± 1.79) and post- (9.01 SD ± 1.52) intervention questionnaires ( p < 0.001). A total of 188 out of 272 (69.1%) preadolescents attending five out eighteen schools involved in the project, who had not previously received the HPV vaccine, were vaccinated. During past years, education campaigns on HPV were mainly dedicated to adult women, excluding teenagers and omitting young males. It should therefore be of primary importance that school-based education and vaccination programmes be standardized.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudio Costantino & Emanuele Amodio & Francesco Vitale & Cecilia Trucchi & Carmelo Massimo Maida & Stefania Enza Bono & Francesca Caracci & Claudia Emilia Sannasardo & Francesco Scarpitta & Carlotta , 2020. "Human Papilloma Virus Infection and Vaccination: Pre-Post Intervention Analysis on Knowledge, Attitudes and Willingness to Vaccinate Among Preadolescents Attending Secondary Schools of Palermo, Sicily," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-11, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5362-:d:389802
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5362/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5362/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vincenzo Restivo & Claudio Costantino & Tiziana Francesca Fazio & Nicolò Casuccio & Claudio D’Angelo & Francesco Vitale & Alessandra Casuccio, 2018. "Factors Associated with HPV Vaccine Refusal among Young Adult Women after Ten Years of Vaccine Implementation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marco Palella & Chiara Copat & Alfina Grasso & Antonio Cristaldi & Gea Oliveri Conti & Margherita Ferrante & Maria Fiore, 2022. "Healthcare University Courses Fail to Improve Opinions, Knowledge, and Attitudes toward Vaccines among Healthcare Students: A Southern Italy Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Claudio Costantino & Alessandra Casuccio & Vincenzo Restivo, 2020. "Potential Risks and Factors of Women’s Health Promotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-7, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Violeta Alarcão & Bilyana Zdravkova, 2022. "Attitudes and Practices towards HPV Vaccination and Its Social Processes in Europe: An Equity-Focused Scoping Review," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5362-:d:389802. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.