A study to assess the effectiveness of informational booklet on knowledge regarding HPV vaccination among adolescents of selected Government school of Mumbai

Background: HPV vaccines provide protection against several cancers caused by Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV). HPV is a group of more than 200 related family of viruses. The HPV vaccine is available under trade name Gardasil and Cervarix and is administered to specific age group of individuals with laid down criteria. The aim of study is to assess the knowledgeabout HPV vaccination and create awareness among the target population of adolescents [1]. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 adolescent girls, selected using purposive sampling method, aged between 10 to 14 years group from a selected Government school of Mumbai, Maharashtra. The respondents were asked to fill the self-structured, self-administered questionnaire which consisted of 12 MCQs’. A Pre and Post test was conducted to assess the difference between pre and post-test knowledge level among the subjects and test the efficacy of the informational booklet. Results: Study findings revealed that majority of the respondents i.e. 09.00% of the total respondents had poor knowledge, 19.70% had adequate knowledge and about 71.30% of total respondents had good knowledge about HPV vaccine and significant improvement in the knowlwdge level was observed in post-test. Conclusion: The study revealed that the knowledge about HPV vaccine was moderate among the target population despite the awareness created across the world through multiple media methods. An early intervention is the only key to prevention and cure and this informational booklet can act as a useful tool in increasing the knowledge about HPV vaccination among the adolescents and creating awareness among the youngsters and their parents. The booklet can be distributed in OPDs, PHCs, schools and community to spread awareness.