Assessment of knowledge and attitude of medical and nursing students towards screening for cervical carcinoma and HPV vaccination in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women and infection with high risk human papilloma virus (HPV) is a pre-requisite for cervical cancer. The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge regarding cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination among medical and nursing staff.Methods: Four hundred participants; 200 MBBS students, 120 BSc nursing students and 80 staff nurses answered a standardized questionnaire which was analysed.Results: Majority of the MBBS students correctly believed that cervical cancer was not the most common cancer in females and 77.5% believed that HPV is identified in more than 50% cases. Around 80% of the respondents knew that HPV is transmitted sexually and could be transmitted during pregnancy and can affect both males and females. More than 80% of the staff nurses answered correctly that HPV could be transmitted by needle sharing and 76% believed that the infection could be symptomless. More than 80% of the participants were aware that a vaccine is available against HPV but only 5.5% were vaccinated. Though the knowledge was there but several gaps were noticed regarding HPV vaccination, the major concerns being safety, efficacy and availability of the vaccine.Conclusions: HPV is a vaccine preventable cancer and for accepting the vaccination the health professionals can play a pivotal role in raising awareness and controlling the disease.

Knowledge attitude and practice towards human papilloma virus vaccination among medical and paramedical students in a tertiary care teaching hospital in south Karnataka, India

“…A recent study conducted among medical and nursing students regarding knowledge and attitude of HPV vaccination in tertiary care teaching hospital by Ganju SA et al, concluded that there was enough knowledge regarding HPV vaccination but there were several gaps regarding its safety, efficacy and availability. 13 Medical teaching has definitive impact in the awareness regarding HPV vaccination and prevention of cervical cancer. Students of only one institution were included in the study which is the major limitation of the study.…”

Knowledge and Attitude of Cervical Cancer Screening and its Prophylactic Vaccination Against Human Papillomavirus Among the Undergraduate Medical Students in a Tertiary Care Hospital

“…Knowledge and attitude of the effect of human papilloma virus and its preventive measures is very important in preventing the cervical cancer .Early screening prevents upto 80% of the invasive cancer cases .But lack of education and cultural patterns have been known as major reasons for low screening prevalence in many developing countries [7] . Awareness plays a major role in improvising the preventive methods.…”

“…Inspite of proven efficacy of HPV Vaccine, the vaccination is very poor in india this is mainly due to lack of adequate knowledge and non availability of vaccine are the major factors for poor acceptance of vaccination [7].…”

“…Hence the medical students must be aware of the consequences and seriousness of the disease. Since these students are going to be a future clinician and they are the information resources in providing health education regarding the prevention of disease and motivating the patients for screening for cancer cervix and suggesting HPV vaccination, [7,8,9]. Very meager studies had been done in this aspect for the undergraduate medical students .Hence the aim of the study is to assess the level Annals of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Vol.…”

Information, Attitudes and Behaviors of Midwives, Nurses Concerning Cervical Cancer, Human Papilloma Virus Infection and Vaccination-A Sample of Diyarbakır

“…4,5 HPV'nin serviks kanseri oluşumunda kesin nedenlerden biri olduğu açıkça ortaya konulmuştur ve dünya çapında en yaygın cinsel yolla bulaşan virüslerden biridir. 6,7 Uzun vadede HPV hem benign hem de malign anogenital hastalıklara ve ayrıca baş-boyun lezyonlarına neden olmaktadır. 8 Erkekler genellikle asemptomatik olsa da HPV enfeksiyonu hem erkekleri hem de kadınları etkilemektedir.…”