Effectiveness of an educational intervention to increase human papillomavirus knowledge in high-risk populations: A systematic review

Background: HPV vaccine has been described as a very efficacious and safe vaccine, making it highly acceptable for the prevention of potential cervical cancer. However, rejection of vaccine use is on the rise. This paper aims to showcase the benefit of educational intervention as an avenue to increase the rate of vaccination among the high-risk population. Hypothesis: Parental education on HPV vaccine will improve the rate of vaccination acceptance. Methods: Databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Science-Direct and Web of Science were searched for studies pertaining to the effects of educational intervention on HPV vaccine receipt. Results: A total of 11 articles were included in this review. Eight studies targeted high-risk minors of recommended ages for the HPV vaccine. The parents of these minors were then assessed pre- and post-intervention to study the effect of educational intervention on intent to vaccinate against HPV. Three studies focused on the effect of educational intervention targeted to adolescents and young adults ages 18-22 on intent to vaccinate against HPV. Results compared the intent to vaccinate in groups exposed to the educational intervention versus groups without intervention. Percentage increase in the intent to vaccinate was reported for all groups exposed to educational intervention versus groups without intervention. Conclusion: The increase in the percentage of participants with intent to vaccinate reflects the importance of individual knowledge. Future studies should focus on methods that improve dialogue and acceptance with groups of different ethnicity and cultures.