Gender Differences in Knowledge and Attitude towards HPV and HPV Vaccine among College Students in Wenzhou, China.

Gang Chen,Biao Wu,Mengqi Zhang,Yupeng Liu,Xuchao Dai,Zhigang Wu,Hong Huang,Kun Mei

doi:10.3390/vaccines10010010

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine human papillomavirus (HPV)-related awareness and willingness to receive HPV vaccination among college students, in Wenzhou, and its associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted among college students in Wenzhou to investigate their knowledge, attitude, and factors affecting their willingness to receive HPV vaccination. Results: A total of 1035 questionnaires were collected, of which 1002 were valid (males: 374, females: 628). In total, 904 (90.2%) college students had heard of HPV, with a lower rate among males than females (85.3% vs. 93.2%, p < 0.05) and 693 (69.2%) had heard of the HPV vaccine, with a significantly lower rate among males than females (53.7% vs. 78.3%, p < 0.05). Overall awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine among males and females was moderate, with lower awareness among males. A total of 55.9% of males and 80.4% of females indicated that they would be willing to receive the HPV vaccine, a significant difference (p < 0.001). The price, safety of HPV vaccine, and lack of knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccine were the major barriers to HPV vaccination for college students. Compared to females, inadequate knowledge of HPV was the main barrier factor for HPV vaccination among male college students. Conclusions: The overall knowledge level of males is lower than that of females. For male college students, providing more knowledge about HPV infection is helpful to promote their willingness to vaccinate. It is necessary to promote HPV-related knowledge for male and female college students, respectively.

Highlights

We found that the knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine among college students in Wenzhou was at a medium to low level, even though awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine was high
We found that the internet was the most important source of information for college students, both males and females, who were aware of HPV
Logistic regression results show that gender differences influence willingness to receive the vaccine, and we found that female college students who had heard of the HPV vaccine had a higher willingness to receive the vaccine, while there was no effect for males, possibly because the term “cervical cancer vaccine” is often used in the marketing of the HPV vaccine, one might assume that it is not relevant to men

Summary

Introduction

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a highly infectious virus that is transmitted primarily through sexual intercourse and is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STI) in the world [1,2]. HPV infection is a viral infection of the epithelial tissue and, in addition to genital warts, HPV infection can lead to a variety of cancers. Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. HPV infection is associated with several types of cancers, such as anal cancer, head and neck cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer in both men and women [3,4,5]. Some studies have shown that HPV infection causes 60–70% of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCCs) [6].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion