Abstract :
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with serious diseases including cervical cancer, oropharyngeal tumors, and warts. The current study aimed to assess the level of awareness, knowledge, and attitude toward HPV and HPV vaccine among Saudi Women in Tabuk City, Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 adult women attending a clinic in King Salman Military hospital in Tabuk City, Saudi Arabia. A simple random technique was used and a structured questionnaire dealing with the socio- demographic, awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards HPV and HPV vaccine was used to interview the participants. All the participants signed a written informed consent and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data analysis. Participants (77.8% housewives and 70.3% had higher education), only 9.9% were aware of HPV, and 10.22% have heard about the vaccine, the knowledge regarding the mode of transmission and diagnosis was suboptimal (29.7%, and 59.5% respectively), 58% of women aged 18-25 years were willing to take the vaccine and 60.2% agreed to give the vaccine to their daughter. However, only 7.7% were performing Pap smears. No influence of sociodemographic factors on knowledge and attitude (P >0.05). Knowledge and attitude of Saudi women in Tabuk were suboptimal; intervention education programs to raise awareness are highly needed.
