The impact of the human papillomavirus vaccine on women’s health: a systematic review

A. Jomah, A. Albokhary

Al-Hada Primary Health Center, King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia. arjomah@moh.gov.sa

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• Virology

OBJECTIVE: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most widespread infection that affects women’s reproductive system. HPV is a serious concern to women’s health, as it has a negative impact on women’s quality of life. Approximately 70% of all occurrences of cervical cancer globally are caused by HPV strains 16 and 18. A few studies have found that HPV vaccinations play a significant role in protecting women against HPV infections. This study aims to identify the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine and to examine the influence of this vaccine on women’s health.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: EBSCO, PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and ProQuest were selected as electronic databases for systematic research. The inclusion criteria encompassed studies published in English from January 2019 to August 2023, evaluating the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine in women aged 18-76 years globally. This review included different types of studies, including cross-sectional, retrospective cohort, original randomized controlled trials, and prospective studies. Moreover, the included studies were evaluated using the Jonna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodological quality checklist tool. Two reviewers assessed the methodological quality of all studies using JBI guidelines.

RESULTS: The search identified 11,095 articles, 19 of which were included in this review. Significant findings were found regarding the relationship between HPV vaccines and women’s health.

CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights the importance of the HPV vaccine and its administration among women to promote their health and prevent future infections.

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