title: Extending and validating a human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge measure in a national sample of Canadian parents of boys.
abstract: As the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is now recommended for males, a reliable, comprehensive HPV knowledge measurement tool which addresses issues relevant to males is needed. We aimed to replicate, validate and test the comprehensiveness of an existing general HPV and an HPV vaccination knowledge scale in English and French. We also measured parental HPV knowledge and changes over time. An online questionnaire was administered in February (Time 1; T1) and November 2014 (Time 2; T2) to a nationally representative sample of Canadian parents of boys. Dimensionality, internal consistency and model fit were evaluated at both time points and separately in English and French sub-samples. Differences in knowledge scores were measured. Analyses were performed on 3117 participants at T1 and 1427 at T2. The 25-item HPV general knowledge and an 11-item HPV vaccination scale were unidimensional, showed high internal consistency (α>0.87, α>0.73) and had good model fit. Both general HPV and vaccine-specific knowledge significantly increased over time in both languages, but remained low at T2, with only about half of the items being answered correctly. Correct responses at T2 are best explained by correct responses at T1, with some small changes from 'Don't know' at T1 to correct at T2. The extended general and vaccine-specific knowledge scales are valid, reliable and comprehensive, and could be used among parents of boys, in both English and French. Educational interventions could target specific knowledge gaps and focus on providing information rather than correcting misconceptions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal H3A 1B1, Quebec, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Cote Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal H3T 1E4, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: samara.perez@mail.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Samara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Cote Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal H3T 1E4, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Ovidiu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tatar
authors.affiliation: Rural Clinical School Research Centre, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, West Street, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, Australia.
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ostini
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal H3A 1B1, Quebec, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Cote Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal H3T 1E4, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Gilla K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waller
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Section of Adolescent Medicine, 410 West 10th Street, HS 1001, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zimet
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal H3A 1B1, Quebec, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Cote Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal H3T 1E4, Quebec, Canada; Louise Granofsky-Psychosocial Oncology Program, Segal Cancer Center, Jewish General Hospital, 4333 Cote Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal H3T 1E4, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Zeev
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rosberger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines
keywords: Acceptability; Health knowledge, attitudes, practice; Human papillomavirus (HPV); Knowledge; Males; Measure; Papillomavirus infections/prevention & control; Papillomavirus vaccines; Parents