Table 1
Demographic characteristics, knowledge score questions, and decision‑making factors (n = 261).
| DEMOGRAPHIC DATA | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Percent (%) | ||
| Age (year) | Mean, SD | 43.8 | 8.4 |
| Relationship of the participant with the student | Mother | 166 | 63.6 |
| Father | 85 | 32.6 | |
| Other | 10 | 3.8 | |
| Nationality | Saudi | 242 | 92.7 |
| Non‑Saudi | 19 | 7.3 | |
| Marital status | Married | 238 | 91.2 |
| Divorced | 16 | 6.1 | |
| Widow | 7 | 2.7 | |
| Educational level | Primary school/middle school | 15 | 5.7 |
| High school | 54 | 20.7 | |
| University | 164 | 62.8 | |
| Higher education | 28 | 10.7 | |
| Employment | Employee | 126 | 48.3 |
| Not employed | 87 | 33.3 | |
| Freelancer | 30 | 11.5 | |
| Retired | 18 | 6.9 | |
| Family income | Less than 5000 SR | 31 | 11.9 |
| 5000–10,000 SR | 108 | 41.4 | |
| More than 10,000 SR | 122 | 46.7 | |
| Number of daughters | One | 211 | 80.8 |
| Two | 41 | 15.7 | |
| Three | 9 | 3.4 | |
| Has the student completed the basic vaccination schedule/immunization card? | Yes | 261 | 100.0 |
| No | 0 | 0.0 | |
| In which year was your daughter offered the HPV vaccine? | 1444 (2022/2023) | 100 | 38.3 |
| 1445 (2023/2024) | 55 | 21.1 | |
| 1446 (2024/2025) | 106 | 40.6 | |
| Knowledge scoring questions (correctly answered) | |||
| Frequency | Percent (%) | ||
| Have you ever heard of cervical cancer? | Yes | 212 | 81.2 |
| Have you ever heard of HPV before the school vaccination campaign? | Yes | 110 | 42.1 |
| HPV infection causes burning sensation during urination | False | 39 | 14.9 |
| HPV infection causes genital warts | True | 97 | 37.2 |
| HPV infection affects fertility | False | 11 | 4.2 |
| HPV infection is sexually transmitted | True | 139 | 53.3 |
| HPV infects females only | False | 94 | 36.0 |
| In your opinion, is there a relationship between HPV and cervical cancer? | Yes/maybe | 256 | 98.5 |
| Do you think the HPV vaccine helps prevent cervical cancer | Yes/maybe | 251 | 96.2 |
| Do you know who the vaccine target group is? | Girls and women aged 9–25 years | 203 | 77.8 |
| Decision‑making factors | |||
| Frequency | Percent (%) | ||
| How long did it take you to decide after receiving the vaccination consent paper? | One day | 153 | 58.6 |
| 2–5 days | 90 | 34.5 | |
| More than 5 days | 18 | 6.9 | |
| What sources did you turn to for additional information about vaccination? | Family and relatives | 19 | 7.3 |
| Internet | 112 | 42.9 | |
| Social media | 36 | 13.8 | |
| Health practitioners | 52 | 19.9 | |
| No additional information was needed | 42 | 16.1 | |
| Who was the person involved in making the decision? | Mother | 57 | 21.8 |
| Father | 31 | 11.9 | |
| Both parents | 151 | 57.9 | |
| The student | 22 | 8.4 | |
| Among the following reasons, which is the most important reason that would encourage you to vaccinate your daughter/daughters? | If a family member vaccinates his daughters | 5 | 1.9 |
| If recommended by the Ministry of Health or a doctor | 141 | 54.0 | |
| Get more information about its benefits and safety | 97 | 37.2 | |
| I will not vaccinate my daughter(s) | 18 | 6.9 | |
| If you did not agree for your daughter to take the vaccination, what is the main reason that led you to make this decision? (n = 79) | We prefer for our daughter to take it later | 8 | 10.1 |
| We need more information | 7 | 8.9 | |
| Fear of side effects and complications | 38 | 48.1 | |
| We think our daughter doesn’t need it | 7 | 8.9 | |
| Vaccination is still new | 19 | 24.1 | |
| Knowledge score | Good | 38 | 14.6 |
| Poor | 223 | 85.4 | |
Table 2
Relationship between knowledge and HPV vaccine acceptance.
| ACCEPTED FOR THEIR DAUGHTER TO HAVE THE HPV VACCINE | CHI‑SQUARE VALUE (P‑VALUE) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO (N = 79) | YES (N = 182) | |||
| Knowledge score | Poor knowledgea | 73 (32.7%) | 150 (67.3%) | 4.48 (0.04) |
| Good knowledgeb | 6 (15.8%) | 32 (84.2%) | ||
[i] aPoor knowledge: a knowledge score lower than 80%.
[ii] bGood knowledge: a knowledge score of 80% or higher.
Figure 1
HPV vaccine acceptance by parental knowledge level.
Table 3
Relationship between HPV vaccine acceptance and participant characteristics.
| ACCEPTED FOR THEIR DAUGHTER TO HAVE THE HPV VACCINE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO (N = 79) | YES (N = 182) | |||
| Mean ± SD | Mean ± SD | P‑value (independent t‑test) | ||
| Age by year | 43.87 ± 8.29 | 43.70 ± 8.69 | 0.88 | |
| Frequency (%) | Frequency (%) | P‑value (chi‑square tests) | ||
| Relationship of the participant with the student | Mother | 57 (34.3%) | 109 (65.7%) | 0.04 |
| Father | 22 (25.9%) | 63 (74.1%) | ||
| Other | 0 (0.0%) | 10 (100.0%) | ||
| Nationality | Saudi | 74 (30.6%) | 168 (69.4%) | 0.8 |
| Non‑Saudi | 5 (26.3%) | 14 (73.7%) | ||
| Marital status | Married | 69 (29.0%) | 169 (71.0%) | 0.055 |
| Divorced | 5 (31.3%) | 11 (68.8%) | ||
| Widow | 5 (71.4%) | 2 (28.6%) | ||
| Educational level | Primary school/middle school | 8 (53.3%) | 7 (46.7%) | 0.007 |
| High school | 22 (40.7%) | 32 (59.3%) | ||
| University | 46 (28.0%) | 118 (72.0%) | ||
| Higher education | 3 (10.7%) | 25 (89.3%) | ||
| Employment | Employee | 32 (25.4%) | 94 (74.6%) | 0.251 |
| Not employed | 33 (37.9%) | 54 (62.1%) | ||
| Freelancer | 8 (26.7%) | 22 (73.3%) | ||
| Retired | 6 (33.3%) | 12 (66.7%) | ||
| Family income | Less than 5000 SR | 17 (54.8%) | 14 (45.2%) | 0.002 |
| 5000–10,000 SR | 34 (31.5%) | 74 (68.5%) | ||
| More than 10,000 SR | 28 (23.0%) | 94 (77.0%) | ||
Table 4
Relationship between acceptance and decision‑making factors.
| ACCEPTANCE | P‑VALUE OF CHI‑SQUARE TEST | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO (N = 79) | YES (N = 182) | |||
| How long did it take you to decide after receiving the vaccination consent paper? | One day | 46 (30.1%) | 107 (69.9%) | <0.001 |
| 2–5 days | 20 (22.2%) | 70 (77.8%) | ||
| More than 5 days | 13 (72.2%) | 5 (27.8%) | ||
| What sources did you turn to for additional information about vaccination? | Family and relatives | 10 (52.6%) | 9 (47.4%) | <0.001 |
| Internet | 22 (19.6%) | 90 (80.4%) | ||
| Social media | 19 (52.8%) | 17 (47.2%) | ||
| Health practitioners | 5 (9.6%) | 47 (90.4%) | ||
| No additional information was needed | 23 (54.8%) | 19 (45.2%) | ||
| Who was the person involved in making the decision? | Mother | 20 (35.1%) | 37 (64.9%) | 0.09 |
| Father | 12 (38.7%) | 19 (61.3%) | ||
| Both parents | 37 (24.5%) | 114 (75.5%) | ||
| The student | 10 (45.5%) | 12 (54.5%) | ||
| Among the following reasons, which is the most important reason that would encourage you to vaccinate your daughter/daughters? | If a family member vaccinates his daughters | 3 (60.0%) | 2 (40.0%) | <0.001 |
| If recommended by the Ministry of Health or a doctor | 11 (7.8%) | 130 (92.2%) | ||
| Get more information about its benefits and safety | 47 (48.5%) | 50 (51.5%) | ||
| I will not vaccinate my daughter(s) | 18 (100.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | ||
Figure 2
Factors that would encourage parents to have their daughters vaccinated against HPV among those who accepted and refused the vaccine during the school‑based program.