The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, began recommending human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in 2011, but halted the recommendation in July 2013 because of widespread public suspicion of adverse events associated with the vaccine. This situation could negatively impact efforts for the prevention of cervical cancer (CC). We sought to investigate and clarify attitudes toward CC prevention, including HPV vaccination, among the general population in Japan.
We conducted our study from October to December 2015 at different events, including a student lecture, open civic lecture, and university festival. We recruited participants aged 16 years or older. Those who gave consent filled out a 20-question, mark-sheet questionnaire aimed at assessing their knowledge and attitude toward prevention of CC, including use of the HPV vaccination. The questionnaire took around 5 minutes to complete. The Research Ethics Committee of Yokohama City University approved the study.
There were a total of 806 participants, though 103 did not fully complete the questionnaire and were subsequently excluded. We analyzed the remaining 703 (185 males, 518 females). Mean age was 35.5±15.3 (range, 16–84) years. Of the respondents, 59% were medical staff or students, while 41% were not involved in medical fields. The average positive (showed awareness) answer rate for the 11 questions about knowledge related to CC prevention, including HPV awareness and HPV vaccination, was 62.6%. Among male respondents the rate was 59.1%, below the 63.3% for female respondents (p=0.07). Males who indicated they learned of adverse effects of HPV vaccination via the media were 65.9%, while females were 74.3% (p=0.014). However, 57.8% of males indicated they learned of the effectiveness of HPV vaccination via the media; a rate similar to that of females, 60.8%. Of males, 51.4% indicated they would recommend the vaccination to a daughter, similar to the rate for females, 48.8% (p=0.931).
Although our results indicated that knowledge of CC prevention is lower among males than females, males seemed interested in the advantages and disadvantages of HPV vaccination. It is thus important to seek to raise awareness about CC prevention not only for females, but also for males. Males’ receptive attitudes toward HPV vaccination showed potential for improving the current generally negative public perception of the vaccine in Japan.