Table 2.
Parents’ reasons to accept, reject or have doubts about HPV vaccination of sons
| Unassisted question | UK | Germany | Italy | France |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approvers (Q6) | To protect my son against STD (59 %) | Both sexes should have equal rights to vaccination (52 %) p value <0.001 | Both sexes should have equal rights to vaccination (65 %) p value <0.001 | To protect my son from STD (63 %) |
| To protect my son’s future partners (24 %) | I welcome any protection of my children against cancer (51 %) | Both sexes are equally responsible for preventing STD (53 %) | I welcome any protection of my children against cancer (25 %) | |
| I welcome all vaccines for children (23 %) | Both sexes are equally responsible for preventing STD (44 %) | My son is also at risk of HPV infection (50 %) | To protect my son’s future partners (19 %) | |
| My son is also at risk from HPV infection (19 %) | Fear of HPV related diseases if not vaccinated (42 %) | I welcome any protection against cancer (49 %) | If HPV vaccination is recommended by a HCP (13 %) | |
| Doubters (Q7) | I don’t know enough about HPV vaccination (54 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV vaccination (69 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV related diseases (83 %) | I fear side effects (45 %) |
| I don’t know enough about HPV related diseases (53 %) | I fear side effects (61 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV vaccination (67 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV related diseases (38 %) | |
| I fear side effects (25 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV related diseases (56 %) | I fear side effects (62 %) | Lack of recommendation from HCP (31 %) | |
| I prefer that my son makes his own decision later (13 %) | I am against (too many) vaccines (39 %) | Lack of recommendation from HPC (44 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV vaccination (28 %) | |
| Rejecters (Q7) | It goes against my cultural/ religious beliefs (39 %)a | I fear side effects (64 %) | I fear side effects (76 %) | I fear side effects (46 %) |
| Other (31 %)b | I don’t know enough about HPV vaccination (57 %) | I am against (too many) vaccines (73 %) | Lack of recommendation from HCP (23%) | |
| I fear side effects/my son is too young (23 % respectively) | I am against (too many) vaccines (54 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV related diseases (55 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV vaccination (21 %) | |
| I don’t know enough about HPV related diseases (15 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV related diseases (47 %) | I don’t know enough about HPV vaccination (51 %) | I am against (too many) vaccines (17 %) |
aNote the low sample size for UK rejecters: 3 % of all UK respondents.
bMost ‘Other’ responses from the UK fit in preexisting response options and mainly dealt with vaccine safety and efficacy concerns, the vaccine being too ‘new’ to be considered safe, and the son being too young