Knowledge and awareness of human papillomavirus and intention with regard to human papillomavirus vaccine uptake by female tertiary students in the Eastern Cape province

Abstract

Original Research: Knowledge and awareness of human papillomavirus In 2008, two human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, Cervarix ® and Gardasil ® , were licensed for use in South Africa. Initial models showed that vaccination could lead to an approximate 70% decline in cervical cancer cases. This paper describes the knowledge, awareness and health beliefs about HPV and the HPV vaccine, and the intentions of female tertiary students with respect of being vaccinated with the latter. An observational, descriptive and analytical cross-sectional survey was conducted among 150 female tertiary students at a university in the Eastern Cape province in this regard. Knowledge and awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine were poor. Only 22.7% of the students were aware of HPV and that an HPV vaccine was available in South Africa. However, most respondents (80%) reported a willingness to be vaccinated. Being aware of the existence of a Papanicolaou smear, higher knowledge of HPV, higher perceived vaccine effectiveness and higher perceived severity of HPV infection were significantly associated with increased willingness to be vaccinated. There is a need for education on HPV and its vaccination in South Africa. An effective vaccine marketing strategy should emphasise the effectiveness of the vaccine, the susceptibility of women to contracting HPV and the severity of being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.Peer reviewed.

Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitude and Acceptability towards Human Papilloma Virus and its Vaccine among Undergraduate Female Medical Students, South-West Ethiopia

“…Only 43.80% were found to have adequate knowledge which is lower than the report of study findings done in different countries [22,[36][37][38] which might be because of the difference in the methodology and socio-economic conditions of the study participants and in addition most of the study participants in our study are in their pre-medicine and preclinical year of study at the university [39][40][41].…”

“…Similarly, inspite of our study participants' willingness to recommend HPV vaccine for their future clients by the majority (68.5%) of them, more than half of the total study participants didn't show willingness to receive HPV vaccine for themselves. This is comparable to the result from Nigeria [32] and significantly low when compared to the study done in UAE where >80% where ready to take HPV vaccine for themselves [38], that of Malaysian undergraduate medical and pharmacy students, and female tertiary students of Eastern Cape Province [41]. This might be because of the low knowledge level scored among our study participants regarding HPV and its vaccine.…”

“…Six out of ten (64.7%) study participants knows the association of HPV infection with cervical cancer similar to the study at UAE hospital nurses [43] but a bit lower than the findings of a study done in Eastern Cape province among female tertiary students [41] and is higher than the result of a study done among Thai female university students [42]. This difference can be explained by the difference in the background of the study participants and the time gap as better attention has been given to cancer these days.…”

“…Regarding the specific knowledge questions; in this study 240(60.5%) of the study participants knew that "HPV is a sexually transmissible infection" which is higher than of Thai female university students [42] but is lower than of UAE hospital nurses [38] and female tertiary students in the Eastern Cape Province [41] which might be because of similar reasons for this difference as that of the overall knowledge score.…”

Awareness, perceived risk and practices related to cervical cancer and Pap smear screening: A cross-sectional study among HIV-positive women attending an urban HIV clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa

“…A study conducted among much younger (mean age 22 years) tertiary students in the Eastern Cape Province of SA showed similar results, with 70% awareness of Pap smear screening among the study partici pants. [14] Higher education was a common significant factor in all outcomes assessed in our study. Low literacy/education has been shown to correlate with negative health behaviour and a higher risk of morbidity and mortality.…”