ABSTRACT
The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) is higher in college students than in many other populations. HPV puts young women at risk for developing cervical cancer. The relationship between HPV and risky sexual behaviors has been well established. This study describes female college students' knowledge regarding HPV and cervical cancer, identifies sexual risk behaviors in this group, and assesses whether there is any relationship between knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer and the sexual risk behaviors in this population. Health care providers need to be aware of this health issue and actively promote appropriate prevention strategies.
Subject(s)
Condylomata Acuminata/prevention & control , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/prevention & control , Vaccination , Adolescent , Condylomata Acuminata/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Papillomavirus Vaccines , Safe Sex , Students , United States , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/epidemiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to review the literature on gender differences in knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about heart disease. Despite the significant problem of cardiac disease among women, surveys of women's knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the risks of heart disease have continually identified substantial gaps in women's knowledge. Overall, knowledge of heart disease, identification of risk factors for coronary artery disease, signs and symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was poor for both men and women. The perception that women are less knowledgeable than men about heart disease was not consistent in the literature reviewed. In fact, in some studies, women were more knowledgeable than men in the identification of risk factors and less common symptoms of AMI.
Subject(s)
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Heart Diseases/psychology , Adult , Aged , Female , Heart Diseases/etiology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Risk Factors , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Anxiety is common after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and has the potential to negatively affect physical and psychosocial recovery. There have been no cross-cultural comparisons of anxiety among AMI patients. AIMS: To evaluate whether anxiety after AMI differs across five diverse countries and to determine whether an interaction between country, and sociodemographic and clinical variables contributes to variations in reporting anxiety. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 912 individuals with confirmed AMI were enrolled in this prospective, comparative, cross-cultural study. Anxiety was assessed within 72 h of hospital admission using the Brief Symptom Inventory. The mean level of anxiety in the entire sample was 0.62+/-0.76, which is 44% higher than the normal mean level. Anxiety levels were not significantly different among the countries with the exception that patients in England reported lower levels of anxiety than those in the US (P=0.03). However, this difference disappeared after controlling for sociodemographic variables on which the countries differed. CONCLUSION: Patients from each country studied experienced high anxiety after AMI. Even though various cultures were represented in this study, culture itself did not account for variations in anxiety after AMI. It appears that anxiety after AMI is a universal phenomenon.