Knowledge of HPV in West Virginia high school health students and the effects of an educational tool.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To assess the knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) in West Virginia high school students, create an educational DVD that could be used as a supplement to health class, and evaluate whether our intervention increases student knowledge of HPV.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized experimental design with analysis of questionnaire data.

SETTING

West Virginia high school health class.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 626 students participated.

INTERVENTIONS

HPV educational DVD designed by health care providers.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Three WV counties were chosen for study participation. The study took place in health class during the sexually transmitted infection curriculum. Students were randomized to 2 arms: (1) HPV DVD educational intervention plus health class and (2) health class only. Participants completed a pretest and posttest that involved 11 true and false questions. The changes in test scores were compared between the 2 groups.

RESULTS

Overall, posttest scores of those students in the HPV DVD plus health class arm improved significantly more than the posttest scores in the health class only arm (P < .0001).

CONCLUSION

The educational HPV DVD we created was shown to be an effective learning tool. This is the first reported study to look at the effects of an educational program created by health care providers on the topic of HPV that would be used in the school setting. We believe this tool can be used to supplement the current health education curriculum in the school system.