Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia.
PeerJ. 2022 Mar 23;10:e13140. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13140. eCollection 2022.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a well-known cause of cervical cancer. The prevalence of HPV, insufficient preventive services, inadequate treatment access, socioeconomic conditions, certain cultural causes and values and opinions regarding cervical cancer have been established as factors contributing to the occurrence of cervical cancer in various parts of the world.
To determine university students' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding HPV and its vaccine.
The present cross-sectional study included students enrolled at the University of Hail, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from January to May 2020 using a previously validated 26-item questionnaire.
A total of 386 participants responded to the survey; the response rate was 80%. The majority of the respondents (63%) were male and 332 (86%) respondents were single among the overall study population. Most respondents were aged 21-25 years (75.6%), followed by 26-30 years (12.7%). In total, 130 (33.7%) respondents reported that they had heard of HPV before, while 174 (45.1%) reported that HPV infections are rare in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, 102 (26.4%) respondents thought that HPV causes genital warts, while almost 29.5% believed that HPV infection is a sexually transmitted disease. Nearly 76.2% of the respondents did not believe that HPV infection can occur without symptoms. Moreover, 53.4% of the respondents stated that they did not know the health problems associated with HPV infection, while 148 (38.8%) stated that cervical cancer is a health problem associated with HPV infection. When asked about their understanding of the HPV vaccine, nearly 267 (62.2%) respondents believed that there is no vaccine for HPV, while 239 (61.9%) believed that the vaccine does not minimise the risk of cervical cancer. In addition, the respondents reported that they would be far more likely to get an HPV vaccine if recommended by their doctors [relative importance index (RII) = 0.745], followed by their friends (RII = 0.675).
The present findings provide a clear understanding of university students' knowledge, perceptions and attitudes regarding HPV; this information can be used to raise awareness by developing an effective educational strategy. However, further research with a larger sample size is recommended; such efforts would also aid in the development of educational services for various age ranges.
人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）是导致宫颈癌的已知病因。HPV 的流行率、预防服务不足、治疗机会有限、社会经济条件、某些文化原因以及对宫颈癌的看法和意见等，被认为是导致世界各地宫颈癌发生的因素。
确定大学生对 HPV 及其疫苗的知识、态度和看法。
本横断面研究纳入了沙特阿拉伯海立夫大学的学生。2020 年 1 月至 5 月期间，使用之前验证过的 26 项问卷收集数据。
共有 386 名参与者对调查做出回应，回应率为 80%。在总体研究人群中，大多数受访者（63%）为男性，332 名（86%）受访者为单身。大多数受访者年龄在 21-25 岁（75.6%），其次是 26-30 岁（12.7%）。总的来说，130 名（33.7%）受访者表示之前听说过 HPV，而 174 名（45.1%）受访者表示 HPV 感染在沙特阿拉伯很少见。此外，102 名（26.4%）受访者认为 HPV 会引起生殖器疣，而近 29.5%的人认为 HPV 感染是一种性传播疾病。近 76.2%的受访者认为 HPV 感染可能无症状。此外，53.4%的受访者表示他们不知道 HPV 感染相关的健康问题，而 148 名（38.8%）受访者表示宫颈癌是 HPV 感染相关的健康问题。当被问及对 HPV 疫苗的理解时，近 267 名（62.2%）受访者认为 HPV 没有疫苗，而 239 名（61.9%）受访者认为疫苗不能降低宫颈癌的风险。此外，受访者表示，如果医生建议[相对重要指数（RII）=0.745]，他们更有可能接种 HPV 疫苗，其次是朋友建议（RII=0.675）。
本研究结果清楚地了解了大学生对 HPV 的知识、看法和态度；这些信息可用于通过制定有效的教育策略来提高认识。但是，建议进一步开展更大样本量的研究，这也将有助于为不同年龄段制定教育服务。
