Changes in HPV Knowledge Among College Women from 2008 to 2015

Human Papilloma Virus Knowledge Among University Students, Staff, and Faculty in the State of Indiana During 2016, 2019, and 2022

Studies of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge among university students have previously been conducted, typically to the exclusion of faculty and staff. The study aim was to assess HPV knowledge among university students, staff, and faculty in the state of Indiana during 2016, 2019, and 2022. The three samples comprised a total of 1275, 1056, and 403 students, staff, and faculty respectively during 2016, 2019, and 2022. Ages ranged from 18 to 70 + each year of the study. A 27-item survey was administered including sociodemographic questions and quantitative HPV knowledge questions were modified from a previously validated instrument. Descriptive statistics characterized the study participants and differences in scores were reported. Among the overall sample who answered receiving the vaccine question (n = 1917), 39% had received the HPV vaccine. HPV knowledge significantly increased among students from 2016 to 2019 but decreased in 2022. Among staff, there was a significant knowledge difference between 2016 and 2022, but no significant knowledge difference among the faculty. About 86% of the total sample did not know that HPV usually does not need any treatment. Further, participants correct knowledge scores were less than average on the following items: HPV can cause throat cancer (49%); HPV can be transmitted by skin-to-skin contact (42%). More education and campus-wide efforts need to be implemented to increase awareness and accurate HPV-knowledge. Targeted and individual messaging for students, staff, and faculty may be a way to increase awareness of HPV and improve HPV knowledge.

Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer Among Low-Income Women in New Jersey

OBJECTIVES

Although much research has been conducted on knowledge and awareness of the connection between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer risk among university students, few studies have examined these associations among low-income populations. We examined knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer risk among racially and ethnically diverse low-income women.

METHODS

We used a cross-sectional study design to recruit and interview 476 low-income women in New Jersey from November 1, 2013, through February 28, 2016. We used multivariate logistic regression to determine whether knowledge of HPV and its association with cervical cancer risk differed by race and ethnicity.

RESULTS

Compared with non-Hispanic White women, Hispanic (odds ratio [OR] = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.18-0.77) and non-Hispanic Black (OR = 0.38; 95% CI, 0.19-0.77) women were significantly less likely to report having heard of HPV. Of women who had ever heard of HPV (n = 323), non-Hispanic Black women were significantly less likely (OR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.21-0.89) than non-Hispanic White women to report knowing that HPV can be associated with cervical cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the higher rates of HPV infection among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women, these results suggest a need to improve education about risks of HPV among low-income populations. These messages need to include information on the connection between HPV and cervical cancer and must be provided in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways.

Mining HPV Vaccine Knowledge Structures of Young Adults From Reddit Using Distributional Semantics and Pathfinder Networks

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine protects adolescents and young adults from 9 high-risk HPV virus types that cause 90% of cervical and anal cancers and 70% of oropharyngeal cancers. This study extends our previous research analyzing online content concerning the HPV vaccination in social media platforms used by young adults, in which we used Pathfinder network scaling and methods of distributional semantics to characterize differences in knowledge organization reflected in consumer- and expert-generated online content. The current study extends this approach to evaluate HPV vaccine perceptions among young adults who populate Reddit, a major social media platform. We derived Pathfinder networks from estimates of semantic relatedness obtained by learning word embeddings from Reddit posts and compared these to networks derived from human expert estimation of the relationship between key concepts. Results revealed that users of Reddit, predominantly comprising young adults in the vaccine catch up age-group 18 through 26 years of age, perceived the HPV vaccine domain from a virus-framed perspective that could impact their lifestyle choices and that their awareness of the HPV vaccine for cancer prevention is also lacking. Further differences in knowledge structures were elucidated, with implications for future health communication initiatives.

HPV Misconceptions Among College Students: The Role of Health Literacy

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is currently the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, with potentially serious health consequences, including cervical cancer. Young adults are particularly at risk of infection, but many remain unvaccinated. Low health literacy may contribute to poor knowledge of HPV and lack of vaccine uptake, and women living in the Southeastern United States are particularly at risk for lower vaccination rates and cervical cancer screening adherence. Three-hundred-sixty undergraduates at a Southeastern U.S. University completed measures of health literacy, sexual attitudes, and HPV knowledge in 2016. Less than half of both male and female participants had completed an HPV vaccine series, and there were no differences in health literacy scores between participants who had completed a vaccine series and those who had not. Forty subjects were familiar with HPV vaccines but not the virus itself. More than half of these individuals had received at least one dose of an HPV vaccine, highlighting a lack of knowledge regarding the purpose of this vaccine. While health literacy was not related to vaccination status, it was associated with greater knowledge of both HPV and available vaccines. Participants who were familiar with HPV had higher health literacy than participants who were not. College students hold serious misconceptions about HPV that may be redressed through public health education programs to increase health literacy and knowledge. Such public health interventions would potentially increase HPV vaccine uptake, leading to decreased cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates.

Social Determinants of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake: An Assessment of Publicly Available Data

OBJECTIVES

Despite cancer prevention benefits associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, uptake in the United States is relatively low among males and females. Our objective was to use the Healthy People 2020 social determinants of health framework to determine the availability and characteristics of data on economic, educational, social, health care, and community factors affecting HPV vaccine uptake in the United States.

METHODS

We included the most recent data sets from 6 publicly available, US-based, federally funded surveys that contained at least 1 measure of HPV vaccination among adolescents and young adults. We searched each data set for any social determinants of health measures within the 5 domains of the framework: economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment.

RESULTS

The social determinants of health domains of education, economic stability, and health and health care appeared in all data sets. The domains of social and community context and neighborhood and built environment appeared in only 3 data sets. Even when domains were represented, we discovered gaps in the data sets, in which only limited measures of the social determinants were available.

CONCLUSION

The addition of questions about the social determinants of health to the surveys that generate these data sets, particularly in the domains of social and community context and neighborhood and built environment, would strengthen the ability of public health researchers, policy makers, and professionals to identify associations between the social determinants of health and HPV vaccine uptake.

HPV-Related Knowledge Among Dentists and Dental Hygienists

Dental providers, such as dentists and dental hygienists, play an important role in HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer prevention. Dental professional organizations recommend dental providers educate patients about HPV and oral cancers. The objective of this study was to assess HPV knowledge among dental providers. Dentists (n = 36) and dental hygienists (n = 146) attending a professional conference completed a continuing education post-test survey, which included socio-demographics, an HPV knowledge scale, and measure of HPV discussion with patients ("no," "yes," and "yes, but only with some patients"). Chi-square tests, t tests, and ANOVA tests were used for this analysis. Although dental hygienists (35.4%) reported less discussion with patients about HPV than dentists (52.8%), these differences were not significant. The mean knowledge score was 24.7 (SD = 3.8) with no significant differences by profession. Among dentists, knowledge did not significantly differ by discussion category (p = 0.28). In contrast, dental hygienists who did not discuss HPV with patients had significantly lower mean knowledge scores (mean = 23.4) than those who discussed with patients (mean = 26.5, p < 0.01) or discussed only with some patients (mean = 26.0, p = 0.01). Knowledge deficits included outcomes associated with HPV, HPV in men, and curability. Specifically, participants incorrectly answered that HPV can affect a women's ability to get pregnant (81.9%), that one can never get rid of HPV once they have it (69.2%), and that HPV can cause herpes (43.4%). This study identified HPV knowledge deficits among dental providers. Given the recommendation for dental providers to discuss HPV prevention with their patients, additional education and training on this emerging topic may benefit these professionals.