Knowledge, behaviours and attitudes for human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention among educators and health professionals in Greece

D. Xenaki, P. Plotas, G. Michail, K. Poulas, E. Jelastopulu

Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patra, Greece. kpoulas@upatras.gr

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• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: Globally, human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in both men and women. The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour of educators and health professionals regarding the prevention of HPV infection in Greece. The analysis of the results shows that most of the participants (44.7%) had good knowledge about the human papillomavirus, regardless of occupation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out with seven hundred and fifty participants. The participants completed a thirty-one-item questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards the prevention of HPV.

RESULTS: Knowledge scores were calculated with a grading system which was designed for accurate knowledge assessment. The Score was adjusted on a scale from 0 to 100 and was divided into five levels, from Excellent to Very Bad level of total knowledge. Of all the participants, 26.4% had excellent knowledge, 44.7% had good, 23.6% had moderate, 4.7% had bad, and 4.7% had a very bad level of total knowledge. Specifically, physicians of different specialities had 80.32%, and educators 65,31 % excellent level of knowledge, respectively. Also, participants had a high degree of awareness regarding prevention and adherence to the annual Papanikolaou test (65.8%) and gynaecological exam. Despite the positive response (94.1%) in terms of vaccination of boys, and girls, as well as information on HPV vaccination, many participants themselves were not vaccinated (74.8%), nor were their children (19.7%).

CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed good level of knowledge for HPV prevention regardless of occupation and is characterized by a high degree of awareness of the usefulness of prevention in adhering to the annual Pap smear test and gynaecological examination. The study shows the need for more information workshops for healthcare professionals, because physicians and midwives had high levels of knowledge, but not excellent as expected and required due to health-related profession.

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