Awareness and Knowledge of Medical, Nursing and Midwifery Students About Human Papillomavirus Infection and its Vaccine in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in 2020

Abstract

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmissible infection, which has a key role in the development of cervical cancer. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the level of awareness/knowledge among medical, nursing and midwifery students about HPV infection and its vaccine in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (AJUMS) in 2020. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 181 medical, nursing and midwifery students who were selected based on convenience sampling. Students' awareness/knowledge were assessed through a validated questionnaire consisted of 15 correct and incorrect questions with a score range of 0-15. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and logistic regression by SPSS-18. Results: The mean (SD) of age of the participants was 25.4 (1.84) years, and the majority of them were female (60.2%) and single (79.6%). Overall, the students' awareness/knowledge score about HPV was 66.92 (22.8) (out of 100). The mean (SD) of awareness/knowledge of female students was higher than male students 68.8 (18.5) vs 64.1 (28.1), but there was no statistically significant (p=0.210). The awareness/knowledge among the medical students was significantly higher than that of the nursing and midwifery students (t 179 =7.17, p˂0.001). Significant odds ratio (OR) for predictors to good awareness/knowledge were higher age (OR=0.76, p = 0.023), higher grade point average (OR=1.49, p=0.030), and medical students' group (OR=17.31, p˂0.001). Conclusion:Although the awareness/knowledge of students in this study was above average, which highlights the need for education measures to improve awareness/knowledge of students regarding HPV, since they will be future health care providers in society.

Knowledge and Attitudes toward Human Papillomavirus and Vaccination: A Survey among Nursing Students in Saudi Arabia

“…This result may be due to the growth and development stage of the female nursing students in the age group of adolescence and adulthood as they became interested in women’s health awareness. The current study findings are contradicted by Shakurnia et al’s (2022) [ 34 ] study results; there was no significant relationship shown between participants’ age and their awareness of or attitudes against HPV [ 34 ]. In contrast to the current study, Patel et al’s (2016) [ 23 ] study found that adolescents had a limited awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine.…”

“…Furthermore, the current study results were in contradiction with those of Shakurnia et al, (2022) [ 34 ], who found no significant correlation between students’ attitudes on HPV and their GPA. In this study’s results, there was a significant negative relationship between attitudes towards HPV and the academic year.…”

“…This result can be attributed to the students’ desire to learn more about the topics covered in their educational courses. This study is supported by the findings of Shakurnia et al, (2022) [ 34 ], which indicated that medical, nursing, and midwifery students with higher GPAs had much more awareness of and knowledge of HPV than those with lower educational accomplishment. In addition, the results of the current study indicated an important relationship between family history of cervical cancer and HPV knowledge.…”

“…Because the women were at the stage when marriage was possible, they may be interested in knowing more about sexual diseases and how to protect themself from the diseases. According to Bodson et al’s (2017) [ 34 ], study, which is supportive of the current study, individuals were considerably less likely to have heard of HPV when controlled for marital status. The findings of Ebu et al (2021) [ 36 ], provide support.…”

“…This could be due to students with high GPAs tending to search more about the diseases that they studied in university courses, to obtain more knowledge and a better GPA, and tend to take the HPV vaccine when they know its importance. These results were supported by Shakurnia et al, (2022) [ 37 ], who revealed that higher age, a better GPA, and being in a group of medical students were significant odds ratio predictors of strong awareness/knowledge. Farsi et al, (2021) [ 38 ], also found that students who had a high GPA of 93.5% knew something about the human papilloma virus and the vaccine that is related to it.…”