Knowledge and Awareness toward Human Papillomavirus Vaccination among Pakistani Health Sciences Students

Abstract

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the world as well as one of the leading etiological factors of cervical cancer. In Pakistan awareness on HPV and its vaccine is still wanting especially among the students in the field of health sciences who will be future front line care providers. The purpose of this study was to determine the services and awareness of HPV vaccination among Pakistani students of health sciences studying various disciplines. The cross-section survey involved 520 students in the health sciences (Pharm-D, MBBS, Nursing, DPT and BDS students). A 34 item online structured questionnaire, which includes HPV knowledge, screening, vaccine and vaccine availability, was used. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney Z-tests and Chi-square tests. The average mean of HPV knowledge was 8.73 (5.83 SD) and 76.0% of students reported their poor knowledge status. About 70.4% of them had heard about HPV, 75.0% had heard about vaccination campaigns, and 77.1% had encountered advertisements on HPV. Students who were older and those who had previous knowledge of HPV scored much higher (p < 0.001). The most mentioned barrier to vaccination was vaccine hesitancy and concerns (84.8%). Students of health sciences, Pakistan exhibited similar poor knowledge of HPV as regional studies.
The need of targeted education interventions, awareness campaign, curriculum integration is urgent.