Abstract
Background: Despite the introduction of HPV vaccine in China from 2016, the uptake rates of HPV vaccination was low. We aim to assess the status of HPV vaccination and identify associated factors influencing HPV vaccination among female medical college students in Hubei province. Methods: This was a cross‑sectional study conducted in six colleges in 2023 in Hubei province, with multistage sampling method. The data were collected by a web-based online software. Multiple logistic regression was applied to explore the factors associated with the uptake of HPV vaccine. Result: 1148 female medical college students were enrolled. 13.9% of participants reported received HPV vaccine. 85.5% unvaccinated participants showed high level intention to receive HPV vaccine in the future, 89.1% of the participants had accessed information about the HPV vaccine from Internet. Multiple logistic regression showed that knowledge pertaining to HPV and HPV vaccine, factors aligned with the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), and socio-variables such as mother’s educational background and the presence of vaccinated family members, were associated with uptake of HPV vaccine. Conclusion: Our study found that the HPV vaccination status was associated with knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy of HPV and HPV vaccine among female college students. Therefore, increasing HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge within the framework of PMT theory may serve as an effective strategy to promote HPV vaccination rates among college students.