Parental acceptability of HPV vaccination for boys and girls aged 9–13 years in China – A population-based study

Abstract Background This study was to investigate parental acceptability of HPV vaccination for their sons and daughters aged 9–13 years under different cost scenarios, and factors associated with parental acceptability at market price. Methods Participants were: (1) Chinese speaking parents aged 18–60 years with a Hong Kong ID card; (2) had a son or a daughter aged 9–13 years at the date of the survey; (3) the child had the right to abode in Hong Kong. Random telephone numbers were selected from up-to-date telephone directories of Hong Kong. A total of 300 eligible parents (boys’ parents: 162; girls’ parents: 138, response rate: 68.9% & 69%) provided verbal informed consent and completed the anonymous telephone interview during March to October 2016. Using parental acceptability of HPV vaccination at market price as the dependent variable, univariate and multiple logistic regression models were fitted. Results The prevalence of HPV vaccination was very low among boys and girls (0.6% vs. 2.2%, p = 0.242). Among those whose children had not taken up HPV vaccination, the prevalence of parental acceptability of HPV vaccination for the index son and daughter were: 14.9% and 27.4% (market price), and 51.6% and 63.0% (free vaccination). Adjusted for sociodemographic variables, attitudinal variables based on the Health Belief Model were associated with parental acceptability of HPV vaccination for their sons (perception that it was not worthy, perceived cue to action from mass media and perceived self-efficacy) and for their daughters (perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of HPV infection among females, perceived benefit of HPV vaccination and perceived self-efficacy). Conclusion Coverage of HPV vaccination among children aged 9–13 years was very low. Instead of waiting for the free universal vaccination to become available, promotion of self-paid HPV vaccination targeting parents is urgently needed. Different strategies should be applied to boys’ and girls’ parents.