Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Knowledge about this virus and its vaccine is still limited among women in developing countries. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluation of women's knowledge about HPV and vaccination to identify the related factors conducting on reproductive-aged women referred to health care centers in Arak, Iran. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a researcher-made questionnaire was applied to assess the participants' knowledge about HPV and its vaccination among Iranian reproductive-aged women. Mann Whitney U test, and Kruskal Wallis test were used to analyze the data. Quantile regression was employed to account for potential confounding factors. RESULTS: Totally, 400 women with a mean age of 32.5 years were investigated. The vast majority of the participants (82%) were married, 32.2% graduated from high school, 64.0% had 1-2 children, 93% lived in the urban area. The associated HPV and vaccine knowledge was evaluated to be "insufficient" in 86.5% and 79% of the participants, respectively. Out of 400, 37.5% and 34.5% of participants were aware of HPV vaccine protection against cervical cancer and genital warts, respectively. Multifactorial quantile regression models revealed that women with higher levels of education demonstrated significantly greater awareness of HPV. Additionally, employed women and those with higher education exhibited notably increased awareness of the HPV vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: The level of understanding in terms of the incidence and prevention was evaluated "insufficient" in our study. The findings highlight the importance of further campaigns to improve the awareness of HPV among Iranian women. Vaccination programs should be seriously considered to prevent HPV infection and its complications like cervical cancer.