TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlates of HPV Knowledge in the era of HPV vaccination
T2 - A study of unvaccinated young adult women
AU - Gerend, Mary A.
AU - Shepherd, Janet E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to acknowledge and thank Kristina Martinez and members of the Women’s Health research team (Khadija Andrews, Sophia Harvey, Elizabeth Howe, Jessica Kraich, Lisa Langenderfer, Meghan McLeod, Mallory McRoberts, Shella Mesa, Victoria Patronis, Alana Resmini, and Jennifer Rice) for their assistance with this project. This research was supported in part by a grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (R03-CA138069).
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - Until recently, awareness of the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus-the virus that causes cervical cancer-was relatively low. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with human papillomavirus knowledge now that human papillomavirus vaccines have become widely available. Young adult women (n = 739; aged 18-26 years) attending Florida State University who had not yet initiated human papillomavirus vaccination completed a survey between March-August 2009. The survey assessed human papillomavirus awareness, human papillomavirus knowledge, demographics, socio-political variables, sexual history, and health history variables. Over 97% of participants were aware of human papillomavirus prior to study enrollment; however, knowledge of human papillomavirus was only moderate. A multivariate regression analysis examining factors related to human papillomavirus knowledge revealed fiveindependent correlates: Latina ethnicity, premarital sex values, number of lifetime sexual partners, history of cervical dysplasia, and HIV testing. These variables accounted for 14% of thevariance in human papillomavirus knowledge. Less knowledge was observed for Latinas and women opposed to premarital sex. Greater knowledge was observed for women who had been tested for HIV and women with more sexual partners or a history of cervical dysplasia. These findings can inform future human papillomavirus vaccination campaigns and may be particularly useful in developing interventions for individuals with the largest deficits in human papillomavirus knowledge.
AB - Until recently, awareness of the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus-the virus that causes cervical cancer-was relatively low. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with human papillomavirus knowledge now that human papillomavirus vaccines have become widely available. Young adult women (n = 739; aged 18-26 years) attending Florida State University who had not yet initiated human papillomavirus vaccination completed a survey between March-August 2009. The survey assessed human papillomavirus awareness, human papillomavirus knowledge, demographics, socio-political variables, sexual history, and health history variables. Over 97% of participants were aware of human papillomavirus prior to study enrollment; however, knowledge of human papillomavirus was only moderate. A multivariate regression analysis examining factors related to human papillomavirus knowledge revealed fiveindependent correlates: Latina ethnicity, premarital sex values, number of lifetime sexual partners, history of cervical dysplasia, and HIV testing. These variables accounted for 14% of thevariance in human papillomavirus knowledge. Less knowledge was observed for Latinas and women opposed to premarital sex. Greater knowledge was observed for women who had been tested for HIV and women with more sexual partners or a history of cervical dysplasia. These findings can inform future human papillomavirus vaccination campaigns and may be particularly useful in developing interventions for individuals with the largest deficits in human papillomavirus knowledge.
KW - Human papillomavirus
KW - Human papillomavirus vaccines
KW - Sexually transmitted diseases
KW - Students
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U2 - 10.1080/03630242.2011.540744
DO - 10.1080/03630242.2011.540744
M3 - Article
C2 - 21391159
AN - SCOPUS:79952502914
VL - 51
SP - 25
EP - 40
JO - Women and Health
JF - Women and Health
SN - 0363-0242
IS - 1
ER -