Percepción de los docentes de la Unidad Educativa Particular Rosa de Jesús Cordero sobre la vacunación contra el VPH en el periodo 2024

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is highly prevalent worldwide, with 662,301 new cases in 2022. In Ecuador, there were 1.792 cases and a mortality rate of 10.4 per 100.000 inhabitants. Vaccination is crucial for prevention, especially before exposure to the virus. Previous studies indicate that teachers have limited knowledge about the vaccine. Objective: To determine the perception of the teachers at the Unidad Educativa Particular Rosa de Jesús Cordero regarding HPV vaccination. Methodology: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out. Information was collected through surveys. Data were recorded in Excel and analyzed using SPSS, with results classified into low, medium, and high levels. Results: From a total of 94 teachers, 85.1% are women, 39.4% are aged between 30 and 39 years, and 73.4% live in urban areas. Knowledge about HPV is distributed as follows: low (16%), medium (68%), and high (16%). Regarding the vaccine, 50% have low knowledge and 41.5% have medium knowledge. Barriers to vaccination include high (12.8%), medium (12.8%), and low (74.4%) erroneous beliefs. Vaccine acceptance is low for 38.3% and moderate for 50%. Conclusions: It was found that, although most individuals have an average level of knowledge about HPV, their understanding of the vaccine is deficient. Half of the teachers accept the vaccine, while a minority holds false beliefs about vaccination. Vaccine perception based on knowledge, acceptance and limiting thoughts, is limited.