Knowledge, attitudes and awareness of the human papillomavirus among health professionals in New Zealand

Abstract

BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection that is implicated in 99.7% of cervical cancers and several other cancers that affect both men and women. Despite the role that HPV plays in an estimated 5% of all cancers and the evolving role of HPV vaccination and testing in protecting the public against these cancers, preliminary research in New Zealand health professionals suggest knowledge about HPV may not be sufficient.MethodsA total of 230 practice nurses, smear takers and other clinical and laboratory staff who attended a range of training events completed a cross-sectional survey between April 2016 and July 2017. The survey explored four broad areas: demographics and level of experience, HPV knowledge (general HPV knowledge, HPV triage and test of cure (TOC) knowledge and HPV vaccine knowledge), attitudes towards the HPV vaccine and self-perceived adequacy of HPV knowledge.ResultsThe mean score on the general HPV knowledge questions was 13.2 out of 15, with only 25.2% of respondents scoring 100%. In response to an additional question, 12.7% thought (or were unsure) that HPV causes HIV/AIDS. The mean score on the HPV Triage and TOC knowledge questions was 7.4 out of 10, with only 9.1% scoring 100%. The mean score on the HPV vaccine knowledge questions was 6.0 out of 7 and 44.3% scored 100%. Only 63.7% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they were adequately informed about HPV, although 73.3% agreed or strongly agreed that they could confidently answer HPV-related questions asked by patients. Multivariate analyses revealed that knowledge in each domain predicted confidence in responding to patient questions. Furthermore, the number of years since training predicted both HPV knowledge and Triage and TOC knowledge.DiscussionAlthough overall level of knowledge was adequate, there were significant gaps in knowledge, particularly about the role of HPV testing in the New Zealand National Cervical Screening Programme. More education is required to ensure that misinformation and stigma do not inadvertently result from interactions between health professionals and the public.

Human Papillomavirus Infection and Vaccination: Knowledge and Attitudes among Nursing Students in Italy

“…This finding was similar to that of another study, where 77.6% of nursing students indicated that cervical cancer could be prevented with vaccination [20]. In contrast, a higher level of knowledge was observed in a previously mentioned study, wherein 81.1% of students knew that HPV vaccine offer protection against most cervical cancer [17]. In order to increase uptake of the HPV vaccine, there is a need for correctly informing the population about the utility of prevention.…”

“…In particular, only 29.9% of students knew that HPV could cause genital warts. Meanwhile, a higher level of knowledge about genital warts has been observed in other studies conducted in New Zealand and United Kingdom where, respectively, 89% and 78.7% of nursing students indicated correct knowledge about this finding [17,25]. These results are probably due to the fact that these countries have higher HPV vaccine uptake compared to Italy [26,27,28].…”

“…In the literature, several studies have focused on the attitudes and behaviors of at risk groups [7,8,9,10,11] and physicians [12,13,14,15,16] about HPV infection and vaccination, while a few studies have included nurses [17,18,19] or nursing students [20,21,22]. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes about HPV infection and vaccination among a random sample of nursing students attending Italian universities as well as to identify the factors associated with the main outcomes of interest.…”

HPV vaccine hesitancy among parents in Italy: a cross-sectional study

“…35 Moreover, several studies among different groups showed that the knowledge of HPV infection was associated with the willingness to vaccinate their children. 8,36,37 It should be noted that among the sociodemographic characteristics, only marital status resulted significantly associated with the vaccine hesitancy, since those unmarried were more likely to be hesitant. This observation may be explained by the fact that the mothers, without the support of the husbands, might have difficulty in vaccinations' choice and, therefore, be more hesitant.…”

Human Papillomavirus Infection and Vaccination: Knowledge, Attitude and Perception among Undergraduate Men and Women Healthcare University Students in Switzerland

“…The content's validity was evaluated by three experts (nurse, midwife, and epidemiologist), and a feasibility study was previously performed on 15 nurses and five midwives (not publish). The questionnaire was developed in French, based on previous surveys evaluating HPV knowledge, attitudes and perceptions [12][13][14][15][16][17].…”