Characteristics of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infections and HPV Vaccine Attitudes Among Slovenian Women After the Introduction of HPV Vaccination

Launched by UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTRE LJUBLJANA · May 20, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how women in Slovenia feel about the HPV vaccine and their experiences with HPV infections. The goal is to understand why some women choose to get vaccinated and how we can encourage more people to protect themselves against cervical cancer, which is often caused by HPV. The study will involve women who are part of Slovenia’s cervical cancer screening program and who are under 35 years old and unvaccinated.

Eligible participants will be invited during their routine gynecological exams to fill out an anonymous questionnaire about their health history and views on the HPV vaccine. If they are interested, they will receive counseling about the vaccine's benefits and risks, and those who decide to get vaccinated will receive the Gardasil®9 vaccine for free. The researchers hope to enroll around 500 women in this trial. This study is important because it aims to find effective ways to increase HPV vaccination rates and reduce cervical cancer cases in Slovenia.

Gender

FEMALE

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • regular cervical smear (CS) every 3 years after a previously normal CS result, first CS at entry into the ZORA screening program, second CS one year after entering the ZORA screening program following a previously normal first CS, control CS after a pathological cytological result or after a non-neoplastic cytological result or after conization or laser vaporization of the cervix, and curative CS due to signs or pathological clinical findings
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • pregnancy at the time of the gynecological examination, menstrual bleeding at the time of the gynecological examination, inflammation of the vagina and/or cervix at the time of the gynecological examination, other medical and clinical conditions that prevent the taking of a CS, condition after hysterectomy, already taken CS for the purpose of the present study, and hypersensitivity to the active substances or any excipient of the HPV vaccine