title: Awareness and attitude relating to the human papilloma virus and its vaccines among pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology specialists in Turkey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To determine the level of knowledge on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and vaccination, and the attitude towards HPV vaccination in pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists (OBG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were administered a 40-question survey, investigating the demographic properties, the knowledge on the HPV infection-vaccination and attitudes towards vaccination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study enrolled a total of 228 participants (131 pediatricians and 97 OBGs). At a rate of 99.6%, the participants agreed with the fact that the HPV infection was the most common sexually transmitted disease and 33.8% of the participants had the opinion that the HPV vaccination should be administered only in women. The lowest level of HPV vaccine recommendation was among the pediatrics specialists (59.4%, p=0.012). When asked whether they would have their daughters receive HPV vaccination, 79.5% of the participants answered favorably; this rate was 36.7% for the sons. At a rate of 59.5% of the participants thought that the HPV vaccine needed to be included in the national vaccine schedule. Most of the participants (91.6%) had the idea that reduction of the vaccine costs would increase the vaccination frequency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed that the consideration of the costs and the prejudices relating to the inefficacy of vaccination as well as the inadequate level of knowledge were involved in the physicians' resistance to HPV vaccination. We believe that the healthcare professionals should be informed adequately to overcome false beliefs, thereby ensuring success of the HPV vaccine upon inclusion in the national vaccine schedule in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Adana Numune Training and Research Hospital, Adana, Turkey E-mail : orkuntolunay@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Orkun
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tolunay
authors.forename: Umit
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: Seyfettin Senih
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Karaman
authors.forename: Tamer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: Salim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Resitoglu
authors.forename: Cigdem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Donmezer
authors.forename: Fahri
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baspinar
authors.forename: Mustafa Kurthan
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mert
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Samsa
authors.forename: Sefa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000472:pathogenicity; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010372:Pediatrics; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011379:Prognosis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015996:Survival Rate; D014421:Turkey; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines