Cervical Cancer, Human Papillomavirus Infection, and Vaccine-Related Knowledge

Abstract

Cervical cancer (CC) has a high incidence and mortality and is accompanied by lack of organized CC screening programs, lack of health-care facilities, and a lack of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among female population in the world, particularly China. We recruited 487 females who visited the outpatient department of the First People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province from November 2015 to January 2016 to complete a standardized-designed questionnaire. We found that only 39.6% of the females knew about the role of HPVs in the development of cervical cancer. Moreover, none of the females knew that HPV could cause penile carcinomas, perianal carcinomas, and head and neck carcinomas. The majority of the participants acquired information about cervical cancer, HPV, and the HPV vaccine from medical workers. Only 15.6% of the recruited females had heard about the HPV vaccine. The overall HPV vaccine acceptance rate was higher (91.2%) if the vaccine was available free of cost. In this study, we found high acceptability of the HPV vaccine in Chinese women and high awareness about cervical cancer. However, very low levels of knowledge about HPVs and their role in cancer development among the recruited women is alarming. Therefore, it is very important to initiate educational programs to raise awareness and knowledge about cervical cancer, HPV, and the HPV vaccine in this region.

Prevalence and Genotype Distribution of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus among Chinese Women in Sichuan Province

“…However, in China, the cognition, development, and application of HPV vaccines still face several challenges. Little knowledge about HPV and their role in cancer development is significantly alarming (23). Contemporary HPV vaccines aim at HPV6, HPV11, HPV16, and HPV18 genotypes, which may not effectively mitigate cervical cancer in regions such as southwest China where HPV52 and HPV58 were more prevalent.…”

Awareness of human papillomavirus infection complications, cervical cancer, and vaccine among the Saudi population

“…Because only 10.9% (39/357) of males and 15.0% (102/676) of females had previous knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer, these results are consistent with a similar study by Naing et al 15 in which they reported that among their study group, few participants had good HPV-related knowledge (14%) and vaccine-related knowledge (8%). Baloch et al 16 determined that 37.9% of women knew about cervical cancer and 16% knew about the HPV vaccine, and Yuanyue et al 17 showed that 13-25% of women knew about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine, in 2 Chinese studies. Thus, the level of knowledge about HPV and the HPV vaccine was low, and this was comparable to our findings, but there was a difference in the targeted study population.…”

Current issues facing the introduction of human papillomavirus vaccine in China and future prospects

“…30 To date, despite the fact that the HPV vaccine has been licensed for over a decade in the United States, a study showed that only near 30% women had heard of HPV only slightly, over half knew about the link of HPV infection with cervical cancer. 31 A recent study that was conducted in the Yunnan province in 2016 reported that approximately 40% of women knew about the role of HPV in cervical cancer development 32 versus 26.5% in a 2015 study that was conducted in the same province. 33 Since the HPV vaccine is now available in the country, more research will need to be conducted to assess the knowledge and understanding of the general public about the HPV vaccine, especially among marginalized groups.…”