Acceptance of human papillomavirus vaccination and associated factors in the city of Resistencia, Argentina.

INTRODUCTION In Argentina, every year, 3000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed and more than 2000 deaths occur as a result of this disease. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main risk factor for cervical carcinogenesis. OBJECTIVES To establish the extent of acceptance of HPV vaccines and associated factors among legal guardians of candidate girls in an area of Resistencia, Chaco. METHODS Qualitative and quantitative study. A single randomized sampling was done based on school enrollment lists. Guardians who reported making decisions regarding girls' health in 2012 were included. A structured questionnaire made up of four constructs was used to measure overall acceptability. The association between overall acceptability and sociodemographic outcome measures was assessed. RESULTS The rate of acceptance was 46.6% (95% confidence interval: 34.8-58.6). Among guardians, 84.2% were women; their mean age was 38.3 years old (95% confidence interval: 36.7-39.8). Religion was practiced by 86.8% (77.1-93.5), 55.2% were Catholic and 44.8%, Evangelical Protestants. Guardians with more than one candidate girl for the vaccine accounted for 18.9%. Also, 85.5% referred having heard about the virus at some point, and 52.7% knew that a vaccine could prevent it. Acceptance was significantly higher among guardians of those girls who had received the first vaccine dose (OR: 8.02, 95% confidence interval: 2.29-28.01, p= 0.0011). CONCLUSIONS The rate of acceptance was low and no association was observed between sociodemographic and psychosocial factors and the decision to have girls vaccinated with the HPV vaccine.