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Background: Human papilloma virus is a common sexually transmitted viral infection that affects both men and women with an overall prevalence of cytology given as 21.8% for women.
Objective: The main objective of the study was to determine the healthcare worker’s perception on the HPV vaccines at Nairobi Women’s Hospital and Mbagathi District Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.
Materials and methods: The study which was carried out in Mbagathi district hospital and Nairobi Women’s hospital was a descriptive cross sectional which utilized both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Self-administered questionnaire was done to 107 participants while key informant interviews were conducted amongst the in-charges of the facilities. Data from the questionnaire was entered into a computer using EXCEL and exported to Social Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Comparisons between the two hospitals were done using chi-square (Fishers exact test) for categorical variables. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors influencing perception of healthcare workers on HPV vaccine. The level of statistical significance was 5%. Data from the interviews were manually sorted out based on themes developed from the responses in line with the objectives and are presented verbatim.
Results: Health workers at Nairobi Women were 1.3 times more likely to report knowledge that HPV is sexually transmitted compared to their colleagues at Mbagathi (RR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.4, p 0.005). 87.7% of health workers in Mbagathi and 97% at Nairobi Women’s recognised that HPV was associated with cervical cancer and there was no significant differences in knowledge of the association between HPV infection and cancer at the two hospitals (RR = 1.1, 95% CI 0.99-1.3). Health workers at Nairobi women’s predominantly reported that HPV causes cancer of the cervix (RR = 5.0, 95% CI 2.9-8.7, p < 0.001). Those at Nairobi women’s were likely to report that HPV predisposes infected individual to cancer of the cervix (RR = 0.1, 95% CI 0.1-0.4, p < 0.001). There were no differences in attitude towards vaccination in terms of recommending HPV to clients (81.8% versus 81.1%) and recommending or receiving vaccine if funding was made available to subsidise HPV vaccine costs (93.9% versus 82.4%).
Conclusions and recommendations: The knowledge, perceptions and the practices of health workers relating to HPV are largely dependent upon the sector (private or public), availability of vaccine, policies and not on their level of education and the professional training thereof. There is need to empower healthcare workers in public health facilities by providing information, prioritizing the availability and the acquisition of the vaccines in an attempt to improve their perception and practices. |
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