title: Awareness and knowledge of HPV, cervical cancer, and vaccines in young women after first delivery in São Paulo, Brazil--a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The success of HPV vaccination programs will require awareness regarding HPV associated diseases and the benefits of HPV vaccination for the general population. The aim of this study was to assess the level of awareness and knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, cervical cancer prevention, vaccines, and factors associated with HPV awareness among young women after birth of the first child.
  
  
  METHODS
  This analysis is part of a cross-sectional study carried out at Hospital Maternidade Leonor Mendes de Barros, a large public maternity hospital in Sao Paulo. Primiparous women (15-24 years) who gave birth in that maternity hospital were included. A questionnaire that included questions concerning knowledge of HPV, cervical cancer, and vaccines was applied. To estimate the association of HPV awareness with selected factors, prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated using a generalized linear model (GLM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred and one primiparous women were included; 37% of them reported that they "had ever heard about HPV", but only 19% and 7%, respectively, knew that HPV is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and that it can cause cervical cancer. Seventy-four percent of interviewees mentioned the preventive character of vaccines and all participants affirmed that they would accept HPV vaccination after delivery. In the multivariate analysis, only increasing age (P for trend = 0.021) and previous STI (P < 0.001) were factors independently associated with HPV awareness ("had ever heard about HPV").
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This survey indicated that knowledge about the association between HPV and cervical cancer among primiparous young women is low. Therefore, these young low-income primiparous women could benefit greatly from educational interventions to encourage primary and secondary cervical cancer prevention programs.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Maternidade Leonor Mendes de Barros, Sao Paulo, Brazil. crisrama@usp.br
authors.forename: Cristina H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Rama
authors.forename: Luisa L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pagliusi
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Andreoli
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Aline L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Adhemar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longatto-Filho
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eluf-Neto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010298:Parity; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines