A qualitative study on HPV vaccination from a nursing perspective in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVE To identify the perception on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among female nursing students in Hong Kong. DATA SOURCES Data were collected through focus group discussions and semi-structured in-depth interviews. All participants (n=28) were female nursing students of a university in Hong Kong. Tape recordings of individual interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim in Chinese, translated into English, and analyzed according to Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis. STUDY DESIGN Four major themes emerged from the data: nursing students' understanding about HPV vaccine, nursing students' attitude on HPV vaccine, nursing students' perspective on HPV vaccination promotion, and nursing role on HPV vaccination. CONCLUSIONS Government should take initiative in promotion with vaccine suppliers. The awareness and knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination among women should be increased in order to raise the positive attitude of women towards HPV vaccination and prevention of cervical cancer. Health professionals should work together on HPV promotion among women and increase the HPV vaccination rates. Moreover, further studies regarding attitude and awareness of HPV vaccination among women in different age groups are needed in order to identify more associated factors affecting their perceptions towards HPV vaccination.