Questionnaires survey on the cognition of prevention and treatment for cervical lesions among females from Shenzhen communities

Abstract

Objective The cognition of cervical cancer, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine among females from Shenzhen communities was studied, which provided a reference for prevention and treatment of cervical cancer. Methods The multi-stage sampling method was adopted to select 350 females from 10 communities. The questionnaire survey was conducted for understanding the awareness of cervical cancer, HPV and HPV vaccine related knowledge. Results Among 350 copies of questionnaires, 326 copies were actually effective with an effective rate of 93.14%.The awareness rates of HPV, HPV vaccine, cervical cancer etiology, high-risk HPV (main inducing cervical cancer), how to prevent cervical cancer, route of HPV infection and high-risk factors of HPV spreading were 47.24%(154/326), 30.06%(98/326), 48.47%(158/326), 20.6%(67/326), 21.8%(71/326), 21.2%(69/326). The awareness was significantly higher in the females who were in the age of 31-40 years old, with more than 30 thousand income, with college education or above degree, civil servants or office clerks (P<0.05). Conclusions The females from communities have some knowledge about the relationship between cervical cancer and HPV, but lack comprehensive understanding of prevention and treatment of cervical cancer. Especially we need to enhance the diverse health knowledge spread in females who are young, with low-education background, with low income and labors or farmers, improving the awareness rate of prevention and treatment for cervical lesions. Key words: Cervical lesions; Human papillomavirus (HPV); HPV vaccine; Awareness rate; Health education