title: Indian parents prefer vaccinating their daughters against HPV at older ages.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increasing uptake of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine should be a priority in developing countries since they suffer 88% of the world's cervical cancer burden. In many countries studies show that age at vaccination is an important determinate of parental acceptability. This study explores parental preferences on age-to-vaccinate for adolescent school-going girls.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was selected using a two-stage probability proportional to size cluster sampling methodology. Questionnaires were sent home with a random sample of 800 adolescent girls attending 12 schools in Mysore to be completed by parents. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages and proportions were generated for independent variables and bivariate analyses (Chi square test) were used to assess the relationship between independent and appropriate age-to-vaccinate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HPV vaccination acceptability was high at 71%. While 5.3% of parents felt girls should be vaccinated by 10 years or younger; 38.3% said 11-15 years; 14.8% said 16-18 years; 5.8% suggested over 19 years; and 33% didn't know. Only 2.8% of parents would not vaccinate their daughters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Delaying HPV vaccination until later ages may significantly increase uptake of the HPV vaccine in India.
authors: Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, USA E-mail : pmadhiva@fiu.edu.
authors: Purnima
authors: P
authors: Madhivanan
authors: Vijaya
authors: V
authors: Srinivas
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Marlow
authors: Soumyadeep
authors: S
authors: Mukherjee
authors: Doddaiah
authors: D
authors: Narayanappa
authors: Shekar
authors: S
authors: Mysore
authors: Anjali
authors: A
authors: Arun
authors: Karl
authors: K
authors: Krupp
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008875:Middle Aged; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D057240:Patient Preference; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination; D055815:Young Adult