Human Papilloma Virus and HPV vaccine knowledge among Mustafa Kemal University Medical Students

Abstract

Background: Human papilloma virus (HPV) is regarded as the main cause in the etiology of cervical cancer. The purpose of our study is to assess the knowledge of medical students about HPV vaccine and to evaluate their opinion on this subject. Material and Method: The study population consisted of 488 medical students. The survey was composed of questions intended to obtain information about transmission route of HPV, types of HPV, role of HPV in cervical cancer, whether HPV is treatable or not, which types of HPV the HPV vaccine prevents, the age groups HPV vaccine is administered, the opinions on HPV vaccine and sufficiency of public health, whether female students have underwent vaccination and if not what their drawbacks are. Results: Mean age of the students participating in the study was 21±4 and 58 % of the patients were female. Out of 448 medical students, 60% of them did not know that HPV was a sexually transmitted disease. Only 55% students knew about the association of HPV with cervical cancer and 52% participants stated that HPV vaccine could not be preventive against cervical cancer. None of female students had been immunized and 67% of female students did not consider getting immunized. Among those who did not consider getting immunized, 70% said they had worries about the safety of the vaccine. Conclusion: Our study results revealed that the knowledge of medical students about HPV is satisfactory, however their knowledge about HPV vaccine, immunization status and desire to be immunized were little.