Knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccination: An international comparison

Abstract

Since vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) became available, awareness of HPV has dramatically increased. Implementation of a vaccine program varies internationally yet no studies have explored the influence this has on the public's knowledge of HPV. The present study aimed to explore differences in awareness of HPV and HPV knowledge across three countries: The US, UK and Australia. Participants (n=2409) completed a validated measure of HPV knowledge as part of an online survey. There were higher levels of HPV awareness among men and women in the US than the UK and Australia. Being male and having a lower educational level was associated with lower HPV awareness in all three countries. Awareness of HPV vaccine was higher in women from the US than the UK and Australia. Women in the US scored significantly higher on general HPV knowledge (on a 15-item scale) than women in the UK and Australia, but there were no between country differences in HPV vaccine knowledge (on a 6-item scale). When asked about country-specific vaccine availability, participants in the US were less able to identify the correct answers than participants in the UK and Australia. More than half of participants did not know: HPV can cause genital warts; most sexually active people will get HPV at some point in their life; or HPV doesn't usually need treatment. Pharmaceutical advertising campaigns could explain why awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine is higher in the US and this has helped to get some important messages across. Significant gaps in HPV knowledge remain across all three countries.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Barriers Towards HPV Vaccination among Nurses in Turkey: a Longitudinal Study

“…Similiarly with other previous studies, in United Arap Emirates nearly all of school nurses (97%) (Ortashi et al, 2012), in Nigeria 84.8% of the nurses (Makwe and Anorlu, 2011), 81.0% of non-physician health care providers and 97.2% of physician (Naki et al, 2010) and in Ankara, Turkey 55.7% of the nurses students (Guvenc et al, 2012) had heard of HPV infection. According to Marlow et al (2013) study findings, 61.1% of participants had heard of HPV. In South Africa 73.3% of the nurses were aware of HPV; however nurses had poor knowledge regarding HPV infection and the vaccine (Hoque et al, 2014).…”

“…Using condom can be decreased risk of HPV dramatically, but condom is not as protective against HPV (Marlow et al, 2013). Condoms are an effective tool for preventing STI if used consistently and correctly.…”

“…Klug et al (2008) stated that in their systematic review, there were no differences between countries in regard to knowledge of HPV and since HPV vaccination became available, awareness of HPV has increased (Klug et al, 2008). One study was carried out 2409 participants in three countries and found that awareness of HPV and vaccination was higher in the US than in Australia and the UK (Marlow et al, 2013). Education program about the vaccine should focus on the health care providers as well as the women.…”

“…In the study more than half of nurses were aware of vaccination does not rule out the need for future CC screening. Studies stated that messages about the need for future screening may need to be pointed out with clear information about the vaccine which did not prevent all CC (Marlow et al, 2013).…”

“…The self-administered questionnaire, which was consisted of five parts, was designed by the researchers on the basis of published research, expert opinion and guidance (WHO, 2007;Yanikkerem et al, 2010;Makwe and Anorlu, 2011;Phianmongkhol et al, 2011;Kwan et al, 2012;Marlow et al, 2013;Wamai et al, 2013;National Cancer Institute, 2013).…”