Awareness of Turkish Nursing Students About Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer and Prophylactic Human Papillomavirus Vaccine

Tas F., Isler A., Esenay F. I., Aksit S., BAŞBAKKAL D. Z.

SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY, cilt.28, sa.4, ss.245-253, 2010 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 28 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2010
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s11195-010-9172-6
  • Dergi Adı: SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.245-253
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Human papillomavirus vaccine, Nursing students, Turkey, HIGH-SCHOOL-STUDENTS, KNOWLEDGE, BEHAVIORS, ATTITUDES, UNIVERSITY, BELIEFS, WOMEN
  • Akdeniz Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The aim of this study was to evaluate nursing students' knowledge about risk factors for cervical cancer and prophylactic HPV vaccine. The nursing students in a nursing school in Turkey were asked to complete a self administered questionnaire evaluating the knowledge of students regarding STDs, cervical cancer and HPV vaccine. From a total of 650 female nursing students, 400 agreed to fill in the questionnaire. While 98% of the students defined HIV infection as STD, only 37% of them indicated that HPV is one of the STDs. About one-third of the students reported that HPV is a risk factor for the cervical cancer. Only 16% of the students had heard of HPV vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer. Most of the students had no sexual intercourse before. In conclusion, nursing students' knowledge especially on the association of HPV and cervical cancer is not satisfactory.