Abstract
Purpose: To make baseline comparisons and evaluate the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine awareness, knowledge, and attitudes among ethnically diverse participants.Methods: Design: Pre- and post-intervention surveys. Setting: An urban, Hispanic-Serving South Florida university. Subjects: Three hundred eighty-seven diverse college students attending a gender studies course. Intervention: Students received a brief educational message designed to improve HPV-related knowledge and attitudes. Baseline and follow-up survey data were collected. Measures: Outcome measures included baseline and follow-up awareness of HPV, perceived knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination, measured knowledge score, vaccine attitudes, and doses of HPV vaccine received. Analysis: Chi-square, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare baseline differences and evaluate the efficacy of the intervention.Results: Hispanic participants had more positive attitudes toward HPV vaccination (62% vs. 44%, p=0.009) and were more willing to become vaccinated (66% vs. 46%, p=0.02) than non-Hispanic participants at baseline. Hispanic women (48%) were more likely to have initiated HPV vaccination than Hispanic men (27%, p=0.006). At baseline, only 30% of participants scored ≥4/7 points in knowledge. Participants' HPV knowledge improved by 41% after the intervention, with no difference by ethnicity in the post-intervention score.Conclusion: The intervention was useful in improving HPV-related knowledge and attitudes among diverse college students. Future studies should examine barriers to vaccination among ethnic minorities.
Highlights
To make baseline comparisons and evaluate the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine awareness, knowledge, and attitudes among ethnically diverse participants
In support of the Healthy People 2020 goal to reach 80% HPV vaccine coverage,[30] the aim of this study was to develop and test the efficacy of an educational intervention for improving HPV-related knowledge and attitudes among ethnically diverse college students enrolled in a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in south Florida, a region known to have many Cuban and other Hispanic populations and a high incidence of cervical cancer
This study evaluated the differences in intervention effects between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students regarding HPV and vaccination, with special attention paid to attitudes toward the safety and effectiveness of vaccines in general as a proxy measure of vaccine hesitancy
Summary
To make baseline comparisons and evaluate the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine awareness, knowledge, and attitudes among ethnically diverse participants. Intervention: Students received a brief educational message designed to improve HPV-related knowledge and attitudes. Conclusion: The intervention was useful in improving HPV-related knowledge and attitudes among diverse college students. Significant variability in cancer rates exists between Hispanics of different countries of origins and contributes to the overall reported cervical cancer statistics of Hispanics in Florida. These distinct cancer profiles are reflective of cancer rates in the countries of origin
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