[Cognition of human papillomavirus and its influencing factors among college students in Shandong province].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the awareness status of human papilloma virus (HPV) among college students and relevant influencing factors in order to provide references and suggestions for the prevention of HPV related diseases. METHODS: Based on the random sampling method, 5 412 college students in Shandong Province were surveyed by questionnaire, including the general demographic characteristics of the subjects, knowledge about HPV and related diseases caused by HPV infection. RESULTS: In the final analysis, 1 777 male students and 3 653 female students were included in the final analysis. Among them, 40.5 percent of male students were unaware of HPV, compared with 35.8 percent of female students, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). The average score of HPV-related knowledge cognition was 13.87 points, of which the male and female cognitive scores were 13.4 and 14.1 respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.01). The cognitive scores of students in different grades and major backgrounds have significant differences. The cognitive scores of medical students were significantly higher than those of non-medical students (15.66 vs 12.58,P<0.01). Multi-factor logistics analysis showed that female students, senior students, college students with medical professional background, and college students who obtained knowledge about HPV from doctors or hospital or school related lectures had higher cognition of HPV. CONCLUSION: College students, especially male students, lower grade students and students with non-medical background have a low cognition degree of HPV, suggesting that in the prevention and treatment of HPV-related diseases, it is necessary to strengthen the health education of this population.