HPV Vaccination Uptake and Associated Factors Among Female Medical Students at Nguyen Tat Thanh University in 2024

Abstract

Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide, primarily caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). As the second most prevalent cause of cancer incidence and mortality among women in Viet Nam, cervical cancer also poses a substantial healthcare burden.  HPV vaccination is an effective and safe measure to significantly reduce the risk of cervical cancer and related diseases. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the HPV vaccination uptake rate and factors associated with vaccination among 395 female medical students at Nguyen Tat Thanh University in 2024. The findings showed that at 38.9 %, the percentage of students who had received vaccinations was not very high. Up to 90.5 % of students in the unvaccinated group planned to get vaccinated in the future. Numerous factors were found to be related to vaccination uptake, such as the student's year of study, residence, vaccination cost, psychological barriers like fear of injections and worries about side effects, and other challenges like ignorance of vaccination locations and difficulty scheduling vaccination time. To increase the vaccination rate among students, the university, medical professionals, and media outlets must work together to deploy the right intervention strategies.