title: Human papillomavirus vaccine: what are women most concerned about?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to investigate the areas of concerns that women have regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in a convenience sample of 1450 women attending outpatient family planning clinics in Hong Kong to assess women's concerns regarding HPV vaccination. The associations between each demographic characteristics and the importance of various issues concerning the vaccine, such as short and long-term side-effects, side-effect affecting appearance, number of women who have had it, effectiveness, effect duration and cost were explored using χ(2) tests for comparison of proportions. Multiple binary logistic regression analysis was applied to further identify independent demographic characteristics which were significantly associated with each of these issues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The top three factors that most women felt very important were vaccine effectiveness (45.4%), effect duration (44.0%) and long-term side-effects (43.7%). Education level significantly affected the degree of concerns in these areas (OR=1.15, P<0.001, 1.14, P<0.001 and 1.09, P=0.006, respectively) while income was significantly inversely associated with the importance of cost (OR=0.92, P<0.001) and effectiveness (OR=0.95, P=0.047).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The above issues should be specifically addressed when vaccine information is given, bearing in mind the particular concerns in women with different socio-economic backgrounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinical Trials Centre Department of Pathology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. kklchan@hkucc.hku.hk
authors.forename: Karen K L
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Tracy T C
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Kwan
authors.forename: Tzy-Jyun
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Kar Fai
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: Annie N Y
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Hextan Y S
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Ngan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines