The psychological impact of illness among women experiencing human papillomavirus-related illness or screening interventions

Abstract

The present study describes the psychological impact of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related conditions or preventive interventions on Taiwanese women. Women with an HPV-related diagnosis or intervention within the past 3 months were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey before the receipt of HPV-related diagnostic results. Participants completed a 29-item HPV impact profile (HIP), which was a questionnaire designed to represent the full spectrum of potential HPV-related impacts. The HIP assesses worries and concerns; emotional impact; sexual impact; self-image; partner issues and transmission; interactions with doctors; and control/life impact. The final sample size was 249 women from three hospitals. The mean HIP score (0–100) was normal Pap: 28.2; abnormal Pap: 44.3; CIN: 47.5; genital warts: 62.5; abnormal Pap with high-risk HPV positive: 48.8. This study indicates that significant psychological impact is found in women diagnosed with abnormal Pap, CIN, high-risk HPV test positive and genital wart compared to women with a normal Pap. Women with genital warts had the highest psychological impact scores. This is the first quantitative data that can lay the ground work for future studies that enable the comparison of the effectiveness of different interventions in alleviating the psychological burden of HPV-associated infection and preventive interventions in Taiwan.

Keywords:

• Psychological impact
• human papillomavirus
• CIN
• genital warts
• HPV impact profile

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support, knowledge, and time of the Taiwan branch of Merck Sharp & Dohme Co., Inc. The authors would like to thank staff and patients at the Cathay General Hospital, Mackay Memorial Hospital, and National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan for their contribution to the study. The study was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme Co., Inc, Taiwan (MSD-Taiwan). K.L.Wang has received honoraria from MSD-Taiwan for lectureships, consultation work and has received grant support through his institution from Merck to do clinical trials for HPV/cervical cancer vaccines. KLWang, CJ Jeng, YC Yang, CA Chen, WF Cheng, TC Chen, CY Hsieh have led clinical sites that participated in the study and/or were compensated for all activities related to execution of the study. TC Mast and YC Wang are employed by Merck & Co., Inc. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Committees of Cathay General Hospital on 2005/12/15 (Protocol #: V501 22-NOV-2005); Mackay Memorial Hospital on 2006/01/20 (Protocol #: V501); and National Taiwan University Hospital on 2005/12/8 (Protocol #: V501).