Factors on Knowledge, Health Beliefs, and Willingness toward Human Papillomavirus Vaccine among Chinese Parents, a cross-sectional study in Ordos City, China

BackgroundThis cross-sectional study was conducted in Ordos City aimed to explore the potential factors influencing parents awareness, knowledge, and health beliefs toward human papillomavirus (HPV), and willingness to vaccinate their 13-18-year-old daughters against HPV free of charge. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on parents with daughters aged 13-18 years, in Ordos City, China. Data was collected using an online questionnaire survey, including parental sociodemographic characteristics, awareness, knowledge, and health beliefs about HPV, and willingness to HPV vaccine. Mean scores on HPV and its vaccine-related knowledge and were calculated, separately, and parents above the mean level were included in bivariate and multivariate analyses. ResultsAfter removing illogical values, a total of 1,547 parents were analyzed, with an average age of 42.25 years old, and most of them (92.4%) were female. 78% of participants had heard of HPV, 93% had heard of the HPV vaccine, and 85.5% of parents were willing to vaccinate their daughters. The mean Knowledge score (KS) was 1.98 {+/-} 1.81 (out of 7) and the mean Health belief score (HBS) was 6.18 {+/-} 2.94 (out of 12). Factors that potentially influence knowledge were found to be gender, married status, education, and income. Registered permanent residence (girls), income, and vaccination status (female parents) were significantly associated with health beliefs and willingness. ConclusionsIn conclusion, many parents had insufficient knowledge about the vaccine and low health beliefs. It is critical to conduct health education campaigns to abolish the barriers identified to accelerate the rollout and increase the national vaccination coverage of the HPV vaccine in China. SynopsisA cross-sectional study in Ordos City, China, reveals parents limited knowledge and low health beliefs regarding HPV vaccines, highlighting the need for effective health education.