Awareness, Knowledge, and Uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Among Female Adolescents in the Rural Sonipat District of Haryana, India.
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BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer develops in the cells of the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. It is primarily caused by persistent infection with high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted virus. Raising awareness about its symptoms, risk factors, and preventive measures can save lives, particularly in low-resource settings where the disease burden is higher. Our study aims to assess the awareness, knowledge, and uptake of the HPV vaccine among female adolescents, as well as its association with sociodemographic characteristics. METHODOLOGY: A school-based analytical cross-sectional study conducted in India included 540 female adolescents. The collected data included sociodemographic information, knowledge of cervical cancer, HPV infection, HPV vaccination, and uptake of the HPV vaccine. RESULTS: The study's findings indicated that more than 80% of the participants had inadequate knowledge regarding cervical cancer and HPV infection, but nearly 60% of the participants had adequate knowledge about HPV vaccination. There was a statistically significant association of knowledge of cervical cancer with the number of siblings (p=0.022), knowledge of HPV infection with class (p=0.001), and HPV vaccine uptake. CONCLUSION: Given the low uptake and knowledge levels, there is a critical need for comprehensive awareness campaigns and educational interventions targeting HPV and cervical cancer prevention. Further studies are needed to explore the factors influencing vaccine uptake and to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted educational programs to increase vaccine coverage among adolescents.