Nurses’ Knowledge and Opinions on HPV Vaccination: a Cross-Sectional Study from Istanbul

Implementing a HPV vaccination program is currently under evaluation by the Turkish health ministry. For screening and vaccination programs to be successful, the cooperation of nurses is essential. We aimed to evaluate (1) basic knowledge of nurses and nursing interns regarding HPV infection and cer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of cancer education Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 98 - 104
Main Authors:	Karasu, Ayse Filiz Gokmen, Adanir, Ilknur, Aydin, Serdar, Ilhan, Gulsah Keskin, Ofli, Tugba
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	New York Springer US 01-02-2019 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Attitude of Health Personnel Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedicine Cancer Cancer Research Cervical cancer Child Clinical Competence Cross-Sectional Studies Female Females Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Health Programs Human papillomavirus Humans Immunization Immunization Programs Infections Knowledge Male Nurses Nurses - psychology Papillomaviridae - isolation & purification Papillomavirus Infections - complications Papillomavirus Infections - psychology Papillomavirus Infections - virology Papillomavirus Vaccines - administration & dosage Pharmacology/Toxicology Pilot Projects Schools Surveys and Questionnaires Turkey - epidemiology Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - epidemiology Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - etiology Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - psychology Vaccination - psychology Vaccines Turkey HPV vaccination HPV knowledge HPV infection awareness
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Summary:	Implementing a HPV vaccination program is currently under evaluation by the Turkish health ministry. For screening and vaccination programs to be successful, the cooperation of nurses is essential. We aimed to evaluate (1) basic knowledge of nurses and nursing interns regarding HPV infection and cervical cancer, (2) their attitudes towards smear testing and HPV vaccination, and (3) their viewpoint on vaccination of school age children. This cross-sectional study was undertaken at Bezmialem Vakif University. The survey was designed to assess knowledge about HPV infection, Pap smear testing, cervical cancer, HPV vaccine, attitudes towards HPV vaccination, and school-based vaccination programs. Validity content was determined by expert gynecologists, and a pilot study was performed on 10 nurses. A total of 550 questionnaires were handed out; 499 were completed. Our response rate was 90.7%. Fifty-nine participants answered all the knowledge questions correctly. The calculated knowledge score of the female participants was 6.99 ± 2.22, the male participants was 5.89 ± 2.92. Female participants were more knowledgeable ( p < 0.0001). Out of the 353 female participants, 18.6% ( n = 66) had undergone smear testing. There were 20 (5.6%) female and 6 (4%) male participants who were vaccinated against HPV. The leading answer for not having a HPV vaccine was “I’m not at risk for a HPV infection” ( n = 106, 34.9%). There was a statistical relationship between “HPV knowledge score” and answering “Yes” to “Do you want your children/future children to be vaccinated? ( p = 0.001) and “Do you think including the vaccine in the Turkish immunization program is necessary?” ( p = 0.001). Nurses in our cohort seem to have satisfactory basic knowledge regarding HPV infection; however, their viewpoints on vaccination were not favorable. Strategies and intervention materials for HPV vaccination will be necessary if a national immunization program will be initiated.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0885-8195 1543-0154
DOI:	10.1007/s13187-017-1272-x