Parental intention regarding the administration of the HPV vaccine for adolescent daughters in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate parental intention regarding the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination for adolescent daughters. Parents or guardians of adolescent girls, aged 12–14 years, from junior high schools in Taiwan participated and completed a HPV vaccination intention survey based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The survey was conducted from October to November, 2009. Most, 78%, of the respondents reported a high intention to vaccinate daughters against HPV. A high intention of vaccination was associated with a family history of gynecological tumors (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 2.22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10–4.51) and HPV awareness (adjusted OR: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.45–3.76). Higher parental intention was reported by respondents with a positive attitude toward the HPV vaccine (adjusted OR: 6.83, 95% CI: 4.16–11.22), perceived greater influence of subjective norms (adjusted OR: 121.23, 95% CI: 42.69–344.21), greater perceived behavioral control (adjusted OR: 67.69, 95% CI: 16.40–279.41), and perceived that the vaccine had limited influence on adolescent sexual behavior (adjusted OR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.41–3.78). Health-care professionals must be knowledgeable about the HPV and actively promote vaccination among adolescent girls. Improvements in vaccination can be achieved through recommendations by physicians and nurses.

KEYWORDS:

• Human papilloma virus
• parents of adolescents
• vaccine

Acknowledgments

We thank the junior high schools for their help, and the parents and their daughters who participated in the study. We would like to thank Dr. Susan Fetzer for her assistance in manuscript editing.