Disparities of perceptions and practices related to cervical cancer prevention and the acceptability of HPV vaccination according to educational level in a French cross-sectional survey of 18-65 years old women

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 10; p. e109320
• Main Authors: Haesebaert, Julie, Lutringer-Magnin, Delphine, Kalecinski, Julie, Barone, Giovanna, Jacquard, Anne-Carole, Leocmach, Yann, Régnier, Véronique, Vanhems, Philippe, Chauvin, Franck, Lasset, Christine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 10.10.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biology and Life Sciences; Cancer; Cancer prevention; Cervical cancer; Cervix; Children; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data processing; Education; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Hepatitis; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B vaccines; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Immunization; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Papillomavirus Infections - prevention & control; Papillomavirus Vaccines - therapeutic use; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Prevention; Qualitative analysis; Surveys; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control; Vaccination; Vaccines; Women's health; Womens health; Young Adult; France; United States > US; Europe
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109320

We aimed to study the relationships between educational level, women's knowledge about cervical cancer (CC), and acceptance of HPV vaccination for their daughters. We analysed data from a quantitative (self-administrated questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) cross-sectional study performed in 2008 among 1,229 French 18-65-year-old women recruited by general practitioners. Women were categorized into three educational level groups: low (LEL: 43.9%), medium (MEL: 33.4%) and high (HEL: 22.6%). Knowledge about CC and its prevention was lower among LEL women. In the 180 mothers of 14-18-year-old daughters (99 LEL, 54 MEL, 45 HEL), acceptance of HPV vaccine was higher in LEL (60.4%) and MEL (68.6%) than in HEL mothers (46.8%). Among LEL mothers, those who were favourable to HPV vaccination were more likely to be young (OR = 8.44 [2.10-34.00]), to be vaccinated against hepatitis B (OR = 4.59 [1.14-18.52]), to have vaccinated their children against pneumococcus (OR = 3.52 [0.99-12.48]) and to present a history of abnormal Pap smear (OR = 6.71 [0.70-64.01]). Although LEL women had poorer knowledge about CC and its prevention, they were more likely to accept HPV vaccination than HEL mothers.