Knowledge, Attitudes, and Informational Behaviors of College Students in Regard to the Human Papillomavirus

Abstract

Objective: To assess students’ human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Participants/ Methods: Students (N = 1,282) at a large, public university in the Northeast United States completed a questionnaire during February 2008 assessing HPV knowledge, prevalence, transmission, cervical cancer risk and stigma; sexual behavior, vaccination status, as well as past and preferred sources of information about HPV and sexual health. Results: A majority of respondents know of HPV. However, understanding was insufficient in several important areas. Overwhelmingly, respondents heard about HPV via television commercials yet preferred to obtain sexual health information from physicians. Hearing about HPV on a TV commercial was associated with increased knowledge. More knowledge of HPV was associated with less stigma. Men exhibit a higher level of stigma and less knowledge than women. Conclusions: Publicly funded health campaigns aimed at increasing knowledge about HPV are overdue and necessary. This is especially true for efforts targeting young adults about this extremely common sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Keywords:

• college students
• health education
• health literacy
• HPV
• human papillomavirus
• knowledge

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank those who have been instrumental in the success of this research project: The Rutgers University SAS Honors Program for providing funding and support; the faculty and students for participating in this research study and for their support of this project.

Ms Sandfort is an MPH student at the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York. Dr Pleasant is director of Health Literacy and Communication at the Canyon Ranch Institute in Tucson, Arizona. He is also with the Department of Human Ecology and the Extension Department of Family and Community Health Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Notes

*Values reported on a 5-point Likert scale.

**Significantly different at the .05 level.

***Significantly different at the .001 level.

^ΔThese statements are true.

**Significantly different between sexes at the .05 level.

***Significantly different between sexes at the .01 level.

*Values reported on a 5-point Likert scale.

^ΔThese factors are associated with an increased risk of developing cervical cancer.

***Significantly different between sexes at the .01 level.

*Values reported on a 5-point Likert scale.

^#Values on these positive statements reversed to calculate total stigma score.

***Statistically significant differences between sexes at the .01 level.

**Significant differences between sexes at .05 level.

***Significant differences between sexes at .01 level.