Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

HPV Knowledge and Attitudes Among Medical and Professional Students at a Nevada University: A Focus on Oropharyngeal Cancer and Mandating the Vaccine

  • Published:
Journal of Cancer Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Medical professionals and students often feel as if they do not have enough understanding of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in order to recommend or obtain vaccination themselves. A 25-question online survey regarding knowledge and attitudes about the HPV vaccine was distributed among professional students, including all classes of medical students, at a Nevada university. First- and second-year medical students were administered the same survey 1 week after a new vaccine workshop. One third of respondents were aware of the link between HPV and oropharyngeal cancer, and 63% believed that the HPV vaccine should be mandatory. Reported full vaccination status (OR = 2.63 compared with no vaccination, 95% CI = 1.53, 4.53), awareness of the link to oropharyngeal cancer (OR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.04, 3.29), and female sex (OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.00, 2.70) positively predicted whether a student believed the HPV vaccine should be mandatory. After an interactive workshop, first- and second-year medical students improved on HPV knowledge questions, comfort in HPV vaccine counseling, and having enough information to counsel on the HPV vaccine. Post-test knowledge scores surpassed those of current third- and fourth-year medical students, who never underwent such curriculum. Medical, physician assistant, graduate, and undergraduate students lack HPV knowledge, with a low percentage aware of oropharyngeal cancer as a result of HPV infection. An interactive curriculum implemented for first- and second-year medical students improved knowledge and comfort in counseling on HPV vaccination.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Chesson HW, Dunne EF, Hariri S, Markowitz LE (2014) The estimated lifetime probability of acquiring human papillomavirus in the United States. Sex Transm Dis 41(11):660–664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Centers for Disease Control National Program of Cancer Registries SEER*Stat Database: U.S. Cancer Statistics Incidence Analytic file 1998–2015. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Released June 2018, based on the November 2017 submission

  3. Lee LY, Garland SM (2017) Human papillomavirus vaccination: the population impact. F1000Res 6:866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gooi Z, Chan JY, Fakhry C (2016) The epidemiology of the human papillomavirus related to oropharyngeal head and neck cancer. Laryngoscope 126(4):894–900

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Walker TY, Elam-Evans LD, Yankey D et al (2018) National, regional, state, and selected local area vaccination coverage among adolescents aged 13–17 years—United States, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 67(33):909–917. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6733a1

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Gualano MR, Olivero E, Voglino G, Corezzi M, Rossello P, Vicentini C, Bert F, Siliquini R (2019) Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs towards compulsory vaccination: a systematic review. Hum Vaccin Immunother. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2018.1564437

  7. Perkins RB, Pierre-Joseph N, Marquez C, Iloka S, Clark JA (2010) Parents' opinions of mandatory human papillomavirus vaccination: does ethnicity matter? Womens Health Issues 20(6):420–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Afonso NM, Kavanagh MJ, Swanberg SM, Schulte JM, Wunderlich T, Lucia VC (2017) Will they lead by example? Assessment of vaccination rates and attitudes to human papilloma virus in millennial medical students. BMC Public Health 17(1):35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ventola CL (2016) Immunization in the United States: recommendations, barriers, and measures to improve compliance: part 1: childhood vaccinations. Pharmacy and Therapeutics 41(7):426–436

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Anderson S, Isaac A, Jeffery CC, Robinson JL, Isaac DM, Korownyk C, Biron VL, Seikaly H (2017) Practices regarding human papillomavirus counseling and vaccination in head and neck cancer: a Canadian physician questionnaire. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 46(1):61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Berenson AB, Hirth JM, Fuchs EL Health Multidisciplinary Translation Team on Reproductive Women's Health (2017) US medical students' willingness to offer the HPV vaccine by vaccination status. Vaccine 35(9):1212–1215

  12. Poelman MR, Brand HS, Forouzanfar T et al (2018) Prevention of HPV-related oral cancer by dentists: assessing the opinion of Dutch dental students. J Cancer Educ 33:1347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Keser G, Pekiner FN (2018) Assessing oral cancer awareness among dental students. J Cancer Educ 15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1332-x

  14. Lorenzo-Pouso AI, Gándara-Vila P, Banga C, Gallas M, Pérez-Sayáns M, García A et al (2018) Human papillomavirus-related oral cancer: knowledge and awareness among Spanish dental students. J Cancer Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1373-1

  15. Krentowska A, Sierko-Nobis E, Strzalka A, Pietruszewska W, Hempel D, Sierko E (2018) Awareness of head and neck cancer—a multicentre survey among young respondents in Poland. Int Dent J 68(6):441–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Cannick GF, Horowitz AM, Drury TF, Reed SG, Day TA (2005) Assessing oral cancer knowledge among dental students in South Carolina. J Am Dent Assoc 136(3):373–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Schnaith AM, Evans EM, Vogt C, Tinsay AM, Schmidt TE, Tessier KM et al (2018) An innovative medical school curriculum to address human papillomavirus vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine 36(26):3830–3835

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wiley R, Shelal Z, Bernard C, Urbauer D, Toy E, Ramondetta L (2017) Team-based learning module for undergraduate medical education: a module focused on the human papilloma virus to increase willingness to vaccinate. J Cancer Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-017-1311-7

  19. Yam PWA, Lam PL, Chan TK, Chau KW, Hsu ML, Lim YM, Lo CH, Siu L, Tang HF, Tong AMJM, Yeung WL (2017) A cross sectional study on knowledge, attitude and practice related to human papillomavirus vaccination for cervical cancer prevention between medical and non-medical students in Hong Kong. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 18(6):1689–1695

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. McCusker SM, Macqueen I, Lough G, Macdonald AI, Campbell C, Graham SV (2013) Gaps in detailed knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine among medical students in Scotland. BMC Public Health 13:264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Rutkoski H, Fowler B, Mooney R, Pappas L, Dixon BL, Pinzon LM et al (2018) Pilot test of survey to assess dental and dental hygiene student human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancer knowledge, perceptions, and clinical practices. J Cancer Educ 33(4):907–914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Wen Y, Pan XF, Zhao ZM, Chen F, Fu CJ, Li SQ et al (2014) Knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccine and its correlates among medical students in Southwest China: a multi-center cross-sectional survey. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 15(14):5773–5779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. McBride KR, Singh S (2018) Predictors of adults’ knowledge and awareness of HPV, HPV-associated cancers, and the HPV vaccine: implications for health education. Health Educ Behav 45(1):68–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Dr. Brady Janes, Dr. Jennifer Bennett, High Sierra AHEC, and Immunize Nevada contributed to the educational portion of this research study. An earlier version of this work was presented at the Nevada Academy of Family Physician Conference in 2019 by Erin Margetts.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA

    Lauran Evans, Elizabeth Matley & Megan Oberbillig

  2. School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA

    Lauran Evans & Lyndsey Darrow

  3. College of Engineering, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA

    Erin Margetts

Authors
  1. Lauran Evans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elizabeth Matley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Megan Oberbillig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Erin Margetts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lyndsey Darrow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lauran Evans.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Approval for this study was gained through the Institutional Review Board at the University of Nevada, Reno, and informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic Supplementary Material

ESM 1

(PDF 185 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Evans, L., Matley, E., Oberbillig, M. et al. HPV Knowledge and Attitudes Among Medical and Professional Students at a Nevada University: A Focus on Oropharyngeal Cancer and Mandating the Vaccine. J Canc Educ 35, 774–781 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01529-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01529-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation