Awareness of HPV-Related Cancers among University Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: HPV is associated with some malignant neoplasms, especially cancers of the cervix, oropharynx, penis, anus and vulva.

Aims: The aim of this study was to analyze the awareness of Human Papillomavirus-associated cancers among university students.

Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional research among medical students and student nurses from four institutions from June to December 2020. A questionnaire was utilized to obtain information about sexual behavior and awareness of HPV among those students.

Results: A total of 201 undergraduates participated in the study. Of those 147 were medical students and 54 were student nurses. The majority were female 133 (66.17%), and the most frequent age group was 20-24 years old, amounting to 121 (60.20%) students. All participants knew that HPV causes cervical cancer. A little over half of the participants 107 (53.23%) knew the relation between HPV and penile cancer. Less than half 95 (47.26%) knew that HPV causes oropharyngeal cancer. However, only 10 (4.98%) knew that HPV causes anal cancer.

Conclusion: In this study, medical and student nurses showed good awareness of the link between HPV and cervical cancer but limited knowledge of the causal link between HPV and oropharyngeal, penile and anal cancers.