Acceptability and correlates of primary and secondary prevention of cervical cancer among medical students in southwest China: implications for cancer education

• Published in: PloS one 2014-10, Vol.9 (10), p.e110353-e110353
• Main Authors: Pan, Xiong-Fei, Zhao, Zhi-Mei, Sun, Jing, Chen, Feng, Wen, Qing-Lian, Liu, Kang, Song, Gui-Qin, Zhang, Jing-Jing, Wen, Ying, Fu, Chun-Jing, Yang, Chun-Xia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceptability; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Alphapapillomavirus - immunology; Biology and Life Sciences; Cancer; Cancer prevention; Cancer screening; Cancer vaccines; Cervical cancer; Cervix; China; Clinical medicine; Colleges & universities; Education, Medical; Female; Females; Health education; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Immunization; Immunotherapy; Male; Mass Screening; Medical screening; Medical students; Medicine and Health Sciences; Papillomavirus infections; Papillomavirus Vaccines - immunology; Perception; Prevention; Primary Prevention; Secondary Prevention; Side effects; Students; Students, Medical - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - diagnosis; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - virology; Vaccination; Vaccines; Women's health; Womens health; Young Adult; Youth
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110353

To understand knowledge about, and acceptability of, cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccines among medical students; and to explore potential factors that influence their acceptability in China. We conducted a survey among medical students at six universities across southwest China using a 58-item questionnaire regarding knowledge and perceptions of HPV, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccines. We surveyed 1878 medical students with a mean age of 20.8 years (standard deviation: 1.3 years). Of these, 48.8% and 80.1% believed cervical cancer can be prevented by HPV vaccines and screening respectively, while 60.2% and 71.2% would like to receive or recommend HPV vaccines and screening. 35.4% thought HPV vaccines ought to be given to adolescents aged 13-18 years. 32% stated that women should start to undergo screening from the age of 25. 49.2% felt that women should receive screening every year. Concern about side effects (38.3% and 39.8%), and inadequate information (42.4% and 35.0%) were the most cited barriers to receiving or recommending HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening. Females were more likely to accept HPV vaccines (OR, 1.86; 95% CI: 1.47-2.35) or cervical cancer screening (OR, 3.69; 95% CI: 2.88-4.74). Students with a higher level of related knowledge were much more willing to receive or recommend vaccines (P