P-37 Knowledge and Perceptions of HPV and HPV vaccination among women of child-bearing age at West Demerara Regional Hospital Obstetrics High Risk Antenatal Clinic and Outpatient Gynecology clinic

Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted. Random sampling was used to obtain participants from the respective clinics. Data was collected by questionnaires, then analysed using Statistical Package for Social Services software (SPSS). A confidence interval of 95% and a p-value of < 0.05 were used to determine statistical significance

Results: Twenty-one percent (21%) of participants were vaccinated or initiated vaccination against HPV. Level of education and employment status were associated with HPV vaccination with a p-value of 0.006 and 0.028 respectively (< 0.05). Twenty-five percent (25%) of participants answered more than fifty-three percent (53 %) of questions about HPV and HPV vaccination correctly. Ethnicity was the only demographic characteristic associated with knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination with a p-value of 0.010 (< 0.05). In terms of perception, fifty percent (50%) participants stated that HPV vaccination was safe to use.

Conclusion: The overall knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccination was low among women at WDRH Obstetric High-Risk Antenatal clinic and Outpatient Gynecology clinic. Ethnicity is a determinant for knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccination. This study demonstrated that level of education and employment status are determinants for HPV vaccination. In addition, vaccine uptake is low among women of child-bearing age at the WDRH Obstetric HighRisk Antenatal clinic and Gynecology Outpatient Clinic.