Awareness and knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer in female students: A survey (with a cautionary note)

We conducted a survey to explore levels of awareness and knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer in 170 female students and whether mode of data collection (online vs. paper) affected the results. 27% of women named HPV as a cause of cervical cancer with online respondents more l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology 2016-01, Vol.36 (1), p.76-80
Main Authors: Sherman, S. M., Nailer, E., Minshall, C., Coombes, R., Cooper, J., Redman, C. W. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Awareness
Cervical cancer
Data Collection - methods
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
HPV awareness
Human papillomavirus
Humans
Immunization
Internet
Knowledge
online survey
Papillomavirus Infections - complications
students
Students - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - virology
women
Womens health
Young Adult
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Summary:We conducted a survey to explore levels of awareness and knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer in 170 female students and whether mode of data collection (online vs. paper) affected the results. 27% of women named HPV as a cause of cervical cancer with online respondents more likely to do so. 75% of women had heard of HPV. More online respondents had heard of HPV than paper respondents. 127 women reported having heard of HPV, with a mean knowledge score of 2.989 (standard deviation [SD] = 1.599). Online respondents scored higher (3.57, SD = 1.316) than paper respondents (2.688, SD = 1.591). Knowledge and awareness of HPV and its link to cervical cancer appear to have increased which may be related to the HPV vaccination programme. However, there is still a considerable number of women with little to no knowledge of HPV. Online surveys may result in an inflated estimation of awareness and knowledge.
ISSN:0144-3615
1364-6893
DOI:10.3109/01443615.2015.1041886