MedTrace Logo

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

NCT06995157 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 500

Last updated 2025-05-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Cervical cancer (CC), primarily caused by persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types, remains a significant public health issue. Despite the availability of prophylactic HPV vaccines and improved screening methods, vaccination coverage and uptake remain suboptimal in many countries, including Slovenia. In 2020, the WHO launched a global strategy to eliminate CC, emphasizing 90% HPV vaccination coverage among girls, 70% screening of women at key ages, and 90% treatment of identified cases by 2030.

The EVEN FASTER concept proposes that targeting a specific age group of women-those bridging unvaccinated and vaccinated cohorts-with simultaneous HPV screening and vaccination may significantly reduce HPV transmission. Swedish data support this, showing a 62-64% reduction in high-risk HPV infections following combined interventions in women aged 23-30.

In Slovenia, HPV vaccination has been available since 2006 for girls, and since 2021 for boys, with average uptake around 50%. However, no comparable model has been implemented or studied locally. This proposed clinical study will assess HPV vaccine acceptability among women in Slovenia, identify barriers to uptake, define an optimal target age group for intervention, and evaluate the effectiveness of offering concurrent screening and vaccination to accelerate CC prevention in this region.

Women will be invited to participate during their preventive gynecological examination within Slovenia's national cervical cancer screening program (ZORA). Inclusion criteria include regular cervical smears (CS) every 3 years following a previously normal result, first or second CS after entering the ZORA program, follow-up CS after abnormal cytology, non-neoplastic findings, or cervical procedures, and CS due to clinical indications. Exclusion criteria include pregnancy, menstruation, cervical or vaginal inflammation, other medical conditions preventing CS collection, prior hysterectomy, prior CS taken for this study, or known hypersensitivity to HPV vaccine components.

Eligible women will be invited by the attending gynecologist and nurse. After the exam, participants will complete an anonymous questionnaire covering demographics, screening history, vaccination status, and vaccine attitudes. Assistance will be provided if needed.

Women aged ≤35 who are unvaccinated will receive counseling on HPV vaccination, including benefits and risks. Those consenting will receive free vaccination with the nonavalent Gardasil®9 vaccine, following a three-dose schedule (0, 1-2, 6 months).

Around 500 women aged ≤35 are expected in this sub-group, with fewer than half anticipated to accept vaccination. Data will be anonymized and analyzed using SPSS (p \< 0.05).

Conditions

  • Cervical Cancer Screening
  • Vaccination Uptake

Interventions

BIOLOGICAL

Offering HPV vaccine

During regular cervical cancer prevention visit with the gynecologist, HPV vaccine will be offered to participants 35 years or younger.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • MSD Pharmaceuticals LLC

    collaborator INDUSTRY

  • University Medical Centre Ljubljana

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Max Age
35 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-09-01
Primary Completion
2025-09-01
Completion
2026-04-01

Countries

  • Slovenia

More Related Trials

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06995157 on ClinicalTrials.gov