Currently submitted to: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Oct 7, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Oct 30, 2025 - Dec 25, 2025
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Health beliefs of parents’ perspectives towards HPV vaccination: a qualitative study in Kuwait
ABSTRACT
Background:
Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the leading causes of female mortality after breast cancer. CC accounts for more than 7.5% of female cancer deaths worldwide. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in women and the leading cause of cervical cancer in women for almost 99% of all CC cases. HPV vaccination could prevent up to 70% of HPV-related cervical cancer and 90% of genital warts. HPV vaccination is the bedrock of primary prevention and helps reduce the incidence and death rates of HPV-associated cervical cancer. This analysis examines each theme based on responses to questions about HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge and health beliefs among Kuwaiti parents.
Objective:
The study aims to understand the knowledge and health beliefs of 20 Kuwaiti parents regarding HPV vaccination, with the goal of developing a health promotion policy and introducing a national immunization program in Kuwait.
Methods:
The remaining 37 participants were then evaluated using purposive sampling to select 20 participants for the one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The researcher wanted to include both participants (male and female parents) with primary education (diploma and below) and those with secondary and above education (Bachelor's and above). the researcher had four categories with sufficient numbers (at least five in each category), which gave us at least 20. Semi-structured interviews were held with individual parents based on the Health Belief Model (HBM). The data were thematically analyzed using an inductive approach, generating themes through the theoretical framework of the HBM, and theme extraction analyses were managed on a semantic level.
Results:
There are seven main themes containing 20 sub-themes. Seven themes are: (1) Knowledge and awareness about HPV infection and vaccine. (2) Perceived susceptibility, which is explained by the HPV infection effect based on gender. (3) Perceived barriers to HPV vaccination with several sub-themes: stigma, social customs, negative vaccination uptake, and religious influences. (4) Perceived benefits: Parents emphasise the benefits of getting an HPV vaccine, such as protection against the virus and related cancer diseases. (5) Perceived severity, a fear of getting a severe disease. (6) Self-efficacy, with sub-themes of parent experiences decisions regarding HPV vaccination (7) Cues-to-action, the role of the Ministry of Health, and (HCPs).
Conclusions:
The HBM framework is beneficial for Kuwait's HPV vaccination campaign. The correlation between sexual intercourse and the HPV vaccine frequently adds complexity to the decision-making process about immunisation. This study demonstrates that positive cues to action from HCPs and educational vaccination benefits can overcome perceived barriers among parents related to stigma and religion. It is essential to conduct such research to guide the development of interventions aimed at promoting the adoption of the HPV vaccine uptake.
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