Gynecologists' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Intentions Toward Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Serbia

The aims of this study were to estimate the level of knowledge, attitudes, and intentions about human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and HPV vaccine among gynecologists and to explore predictors of gynecologists' intention to recommend the HPV vaccine.

This research was conducted between April and June 2014 among all gynecologists working at women's health departments in all primary health centers in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, using a specially designed questionnaire.

The response rate was 88.2%. The knowledge of gynecologists was estimated as average. The most frequently reported obstacles to HPV vaccination was the financial concern (59.8%). More than two thirds of the gynecologists were willing to recommend the vaccine (68.4%). The factors associated with the gynecologists' intention to recommend the vaccine included their positive attitudes toward boys' vaccination (odds ratio [OR], 8.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.85-28.16), negative attitudes toward frequent changes the recommendations (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.10-0.93), and beliefs that the vaccine application would decrease condom usage (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.06-0.68).

The findings provide an important insight into the current point of view of the gynecologists, which confirms that the better the knowledge of HPV and vaccine, the higher the likelihood of recommending it.