title: Awareness and Knowledge Levels of Turkish College Students about Human Papilloma Virus Infection and Vaccine Acceptance.
abstract: Awareness of HPV by the target population is an important determinant of vaccine acceptance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the awareness of HPV infection and acceptability of the HPV vaccines among Turkish college students. College students aged 18-30 who were attending a large public university in Ankara participated in this study. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to elicit demographic characteristics, awareness level of HPV and HPV vaccine, and willingness to be vaccinated. One thousand one hundred sixty students responded to the invitation email and completed the questionnaire. The mean scores of female students about HPV and HPV vaccine were 7.1/15 and 3.6/9, respectively, while these scores were 7.9/15 and 3.4/9 among male students, respectively. While 51 % percent of female and 33.5 % of male students had heard of HPV and 32.8 % and 18 % of them had heard of HPV vaccine, respectively, only 1.5 % of female and 0.4 % of male students had been vaccinated against HPV. A total of 507 students (43.7 %) had previously heard of HPV. Only 309 (26.6 %) of the participants had previously heard of the HPV vaccine, and 45.1 % of the students were willing to receive HPV vaccination. The main predictors for willingness to be vaccinated were the following: sexual experience, sexual behavior, past history of sexually transmitted infection (STI), and knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccine. Higher awareness levels of HPV and HPV vaccine are significantly related to greater willingness to be vaccinated, and the main reasons for rejecting the vaccine were insufficient information about the vaccine and possible unknown side effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health Hospital, Talatpasa Blv. Altindag, Ankara, Turkey. ozmurat@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oz
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health Hospital, Talatpasa Blv. Altindag, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nilufer
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cetinkaya
authors.affiliation: Division of Statistics, Ankara University Science Faculty, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aysen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Apaydin
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health Hospital, Talatpasa Blv. Altindag, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Elmas
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health Hospital, Talatpasa Blv. Altindag, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sevda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bas
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health Hospital, Talatpasa Blv. Altindag, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozgu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Hitit University, Corum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tayfun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gungor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines
keywords: HPV vaccine; Human papilloma virus (HPV); Vaccine acceptance; Vaccine awareness