Human Papilloma Virus vaccination is an
effective primary prevention to reduce the risk of HPV
transmission which could prevent 70% of cervical cancer
in women. For positive achievement of Sustainable
Developmental Goal three by UNDP in prevention of
maternal mortality and morbidity, nurses play a
significant role in dissemination of health information to
the general public. However, attitude, perception and
practice towards HPV vaccination among nurses have not
been satisfactorily investigated. Therefore, this study was
designed to assess the attitude, perception and practice
towards HPV vaccination among nurses in Federal
Medical Centre Abeokuta Nigeria.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was employed
using a multistage-stage sampling technique to select 235
participants from eight (8) Departments. Data were
collected using a self-administered questionnaire which
included questions on socio-demographic, attitude,
perception and practice scales respectively. On questions
on perceived factors influencing nurses’ practice towards
HPV, attitude score of < 3 and ≥3 were classified as bad
and good respectively, perception score of < 3 and ≥3 were
grouped into bad and good, while practice relating to
HPV vaccination score of > 2 and ≥ 2 were divided as bad
and good, respectively. Ethical clearance to conduct the
study was obtained from Babcock University Ethical
Review Committee. Approval to conduct the study was
sought from the Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta
Ethical Review Committee and informed consent was
obtained from participants. Data were analyzed using
descriptive statistics and Chi-square test at p= 0.05.
Respondents’ age was 31-50years (70.2%). Few
(12.8%) of the respondents had ever received HPV
vaccine. Many (63.4%) were concerned about its
reliability and majority (73.2%) had the belief that there
is need for more information on efficacy of HPV vaccine
and. Socio economic demographic such as years of
experience, ward/ clinic and history of STI were
significantly associated with uptake of HPV vaccination.
There is a gap in utilization of HPV vaccine, need for
information update on efficacy and reliability of HPV
vaccine. It is therefore recommended that Nigerian
Government should include HPV vaccine as part of free
services in Maternal and Child Health care, also the
nurses be further educated on the health benefits and
reliability of Human papillomavirus vaccine to promote
its uptake.
Keywords :
Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Cervical Cancer, Human Papillomavirus,