Human papillomavirus knowledge, vaccine acceptance, and vaccine series completion among female entertainment and sex workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: the Young Women's Health Study
Human papillomavirus is a common sexually transmitted infection and the causative agent for cervical cancer, a frequently occurring malignant disease among women in developing countries. We assessed human papillomavirus awareness prior to the delivery of a brief information and education intervention, and human papillomavirus vaccine provision to female entertainment and sex workers (N = 220). At baseline, only 23.6% of women had heard of human papillomavirus. Following the educational intervention, 90% answered all the human papillomavirus knowledge questions correctly. Of 192 participants attending the first quarterly cohort visit where vaccine was offered, 149 (78%) were eligible for vaccination; HIV-positive (n = 32) and pregnant (n = 11) women were excluded. Acceptance of vaccine among eligible women was universal, and 79.2% completed the three-dose vaccination series. Women who reported use of amphetamine-type stimulants had significantly and independently lower odds of vaccine completion (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.24; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.08, 0.69). New pregnancies also had an impact on vaccine completion: 5.4% (8/149 5.4%) who started the series had to stop due to new pregnancy. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of a simple education intervention designed to increase human papillomavirus knowledge and the feasibility of successful human papillomavirus vaccine in a population that is often difficult to engage in preventive health care.
Source: International Journal of STD and AIDS - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Wadhera, P., Evans, J. L., Stein, E., Gandhi, M., Couture, M.-C., Sansothy, N., Sichan, K., Maher, L., Kaldor, J., Page, K., on behalf of the YWHS Collaborative, Kaldor, J., Kien, S. P., Page, K., Palefsky, J. M., Saphonn, V., Vun, M. C. Tags: Original research articles Source Type: research
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