Knowledge, attitude, and utilization of human papillomavirus vaccination among female undergraduates in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Despite the introduction of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Nigeria in 2009, vaccination rate is still low and the disease-related mortality remains high. This study evaluated the knowledge, attitude, and utilization of HPV vaccinations among female undergraduates in a university in Ekiti State, southwest Nigeria. This was an observational study that utilized a standardized questionnaire to obtain information from 200 female participants who were selected using multistage sampling technique. The data was analyzed and presented with descriptive statistics, while Chi- square was used to test any significance in observed differences and relationships between variables. About 53.3% of the respondents had fair knowledge of HPV. Results on utilization were extremely low as only 5.4% had received the vaccination in all three doses. The major barriers to HPV utilization were inadequate awareness about the vaccine (53.0%), concern about its cost and safety (41.1% and 40.1% respectively). We conclude that HPV vaccination campaign should be extensively encouraged especially among university students. The cost of the vaccine should be subsidised to encourage its uptake, thereby reducing cervical cancer incidence and deaths in the country.