Parents’ awareness of the HPV vaccine and their needs regarding the vaccine after reports of serious adverse events

Abstract

Questionnaires were administered to parents of children eligible to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to assess changes in parents’ awareness of the HPV vaccine and their needs regarding the vaccine after reports of its serious adverse events in the media. Parents lacked sufficient awareness of cervical cancer and no difference in awareness level was seen after the reports. However, a difference was seen in parents’ awareness of HPV vaccination after the reports of adverse events. This is thought to be because parents did not receive consistent information before and after the reports of the adverse events and because they had always been subconsciously concerned about the vaccination, due to a lack of sufficient awareness of the HPV vaccine. In particular, parents’ concern about side effects was the factor accounting for the difference in their awareness regarding HPV vaccination for children. This suggests that it is necessary to establish measures for providing parents with consistent information and knowledge on HPV vaccine.