Adolescents’ knowledge about human papillomavirus
| Questionnaire responses | Yes responses (% (n)) | Gender comparison P value | ||
| Total (n=357) | Male (n=129) | Female (n=228) | ||
| Who can be infected with HPV? | ||||
| Females | 95.5 (341) | 91.5 (118) | 97.8 (223) | 0.005 |
| Males | 53.8 (192) | 66.7 (86) | 46.5 (106) | <0.001* |
| What diseases can the HPV infection cause? | ||||
| Cervical cancer | 73.1 (261) | 58.1 (75) | 81.6 (186) | <0.001* |
| Penis cancer | 31.7 (113) | 42.6 (55) | 25.4 (58) | 0.001* |
| Anal cancer | 24.9 (89) | 30.2 (39) | 21.9 (50) | 0.082 |
| Skin cancer | 21.6 (77) | 27.1 (35) | 18.4 (42) | 0.055 |
| Genital warts | 17.1 (61) | 17.1 (22) | 17.1 (39) | 0.990 |
| Mouth cancer | 14.0 (50) | 18.6 (24) | 11.4 (26) | 0.060 |
| Skin warts | 5.9 (21) | 7.0 (9) | 5.3 (12) | 0.509 |
| Mouth warts | 5.6 (20) | 7.8 (10) | 4.4 (10) | 0.184 |
| None of the above | 2.0 (7) | 1.6 (2) | 2.2 (5) | >0.999† |
| What diseases can the HPV vaccination prevent? | ||||
| Cervical cancer | 73.9 (264) | 59.7 (77) | 82.0 (187) | <0.001* |
| Penis cancer | 33.6 (120) | 45.0 (58) | 27.2 (62) | 0.001* |
| Anal cancer | 26.1 (93) | 36.4 (47) | 20.2 (46) | 0.001* |
| Skin cancer | 18.5 (66) | 19.4 (25) | 18.0 (41) | 0.744 |
| Genital warts | 16.5 (59) | 20.9 (27) | 14.0 (32) | 0.092 |
| Mouth cancer | 15.4 (55) | 16.3 (21) | 14.9 (34) | 0.731 |
| Skin warts | 6.2 (22) | 8.5 (11) | 4.8 (11) | 0.162 |
| Mouth warts | 5.3 (19) | 7.0 (9) | 4.4 (10) | 0.295 |
| None of the above | 2.0 (7) | 4.7 (6) | 0.4 (1) | 0.010† |
| What activities can spread HPV? | ||||
| Sex | 90.8 (324) | 89.9 (116) | 91.2 (208) | 0.682 |
| Kissing | 20.2 (72) | 16.3 (21) | 22.4 (51) | 0.168 |
| Saliva transfer | 14.3 (51) | 19.4 (25) | 11.4 (26) | 0.039 |
| Giving birth | 11.2 (40) | 17.1 (22) | 7.9 (18) | 0.008 |
| Touch | 10.1 (36) | 10.1 (13) | 10.1 (23) | 0.998 |
| None of the above | 0.6 (2) | 0.0 (0) | 0.9 (2) | 0.537† |
| How can you avoid becoming infected with HPV? | ||||
| Use a condom | 68.3 (244) | 76.0 (98) | 64.0 (146) | 0.020 |
| Have fewer sexual partners | 31.4 (112) | 31.0 (40) | 31.6 (72) | 0.911 |
| Not touch infected person | 19.6 (70) | 21.7 (28) | 18.4 (42) | 0.453 |
| Never have sex | 15.1 (54) | 16.3 (21) | 14.5 (33) | 0.647 |
| Do not take drugs | 14.6 (52) | 24.0 (31) | 9.2 (21) | <0.001* |
| Do not smoke | 14.3 (51) | 20.2 (26) | 11.0 (25) | 0.017 |
| Do not drink alcohol | 10.9 (39) | 14.7 (19) | 8.8 (20) | 0.083 |
| Only have sex once married | 5.3 (19) | 7.0 (9) | 4.4 (10) | 0.295 |
All comparisons analysed using chi-square tests unless otherwise indicated.
*p≤0.001.
†Fisher’s exact test.
HPV, human papillomavirus.