UPTAKE OF HUMAN PAPILOMA VIRUS VACCINE AMONG STUDENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN GOMBE STATE, NIGERIA

Mohammed A.*, Tukur A., Osagie A. I., Okoh E. O.

ABSTRACT

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection is among the commonest Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) worldwide, HPV vaccination has been shown to prevent 70% of cervical cancers, as well as infection with HPV-16 and HPV-18. This study assessed the factors associated with uptake of HPV vaccine among students of higher institutions in Gombe state. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Gombe State University. The study population consisted of 245 students from four departments of two faculties which were selected by multi stage sampling technique. The data was obtained using a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS version 23. Majority of the respondents were single and Muslims 73.9% and 72.2% respectively, while 58.4%, 36.7% and 43.7% were between the age of 15-20 years, Fulani, and earned more than 10,000 naira monthly. In addition, majority of the respondents had poor knowledge on HPV vaccine (73.1%) with only 3.7% who received at least one dose of the vaccine. Furthermore, the study showed that knowledge of HPV vaccine and family history of cervical cancer are associated with uptake of HPV vaccine. The study showed that uptake of HPV vaccine among the respondents was very low. Factors associated with uptake were knowledge of HPV vaccine and family history of cervical cancer.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Human Papilloma Virus, knowledge, uptake, Gombe state.