Human Papillomavirus Knowledge and Attitude among Homeless Women of New York City Shelters

Abstract

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) has not been studied among homeless women in the United States. We assessed knowledge and attitudes regarding HPV infection and the HPV vaccine among homeless women. Methods We enrolled 300 homeless women age 19 to 65 residing in multiple New York City shelters from 2012 to 2014. We used a national survey to collect HPV data. Results Mean age was 44.7 (±12.16) years. The majority were Black, heterosexual, and single; 50.6% were smokers. Almost all HPV knowledge and attitudes data were considerably below the national averages; 41.9% never heard of HPV. Only 36.5% knew that HPV is a sexually transmitted diseases; 41.5% knew that HPV causes cervical cancer; and only 19.5% and 17.3% received provider counseling regarding HPV testing and vaccine, respectively. Among participants, 65.4% reported that they would vaccinate their eligible daughters for HPV. Lower rate of up-to-date Pap test was associated with lack of knowledge regarding relationship between HPV and abnormal Pap test (p<0.01). Conclusions We recommend improved HPV counseling by providers during any clinical encounter to reduce missed opportunities, coupled with employing patient teaching coach or navigators to improve health literacy and to connect patients to services regarding HPV and cervical cancer.

Homelessness, Cancer and Health Literacy: A Scoping Review

“…Among the 33 included articles, 3-7,10-12,16,17,22,24-45 25 (76%) were empirical studies, 6,7,[10][11][12]16,17,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]45 fi ve (15%) were case studies 3,5,[41][42][43] and three (9%) were commentaries. 4,22,44 Of the empirical studies, 12 (56%) were cross-sectional; fi ve of these were prospective 10,16,31,38,39 and seven were retrospective chart reviews. 6,7,25,26,30,34,36 Four empirical studies were cohort studies: two were prospective 12,45 and two were retrospective.…”

“…19,27 Th ree empirical studies employed multiple methods. 24,32,35 Th e majority (88%, n=29) of articles were from the U.S. 3,[5][6][7][10][11][12]16,17,22,[24][25][26][27][28][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][40][41][42]44,45 and, of the remaining articles, two were from Canada, 4,29 one from Australia, 43 and one from Northern Ireland. 39 Study settings were highly diverse.…”

“…15 [3] A high percentage of the homeless struggle with the challenges of limited education and illiteracy 5 and by extension, low health literacy. 16,17 Minimal research has been done to describe the association between cancer health disparities among homeless populations and health literacy. 18,19 A scoping review of the literature was conducted to examine and summarize what is known about homelessness, cancer and health literacy.…”

Letramento em saúde e prevenção do câncer do colo de útero

“…Segundo uma pesquisa realizada por Asgary et al,(2015), com 300 mulheres em situação de rua na cidade de Nova York, com idade média de 44,47 anos, em média, demonstraram um conhecimento inadequado, onde o estudo pôde revelar que, provavelmente, essa situação se deu por conta de uma educação em saúde ineficaz, já que as pesquisas voltadas para o assunto geralmente os sub-representa por conta de não terem uma moradia fixa.…”

“…Destaca-se que 42% das mulheres souberam associar o vírus ao câncer do colo do útero. Viu-se também, que apenas 19,5% tinham recebido informações sobre o vírus e 17,3% sobre a vacina(ASGARY et al, 2015). Não obstante,Basu et al(2014) constatou em sua pesquisa que mulheres pouco alfabetizadas tenderam a ter mais casamentos, mais gestações, bem como, as que fumavam, não sabiam que cigarro era fator de risco para câncer do colo do útero, além de ter evidenciado que, em relação a outros tipos de câncer, o de colo do útero ficava em terceiro lugar como o mais conhecido (38%) pela população total (2845), destes, apenas 524 tinham ouvido falar sobre o teste de papanicolau e apenas 176 tiveram o teste pelo menos uma vez.…”