Awareness, knowledge and attitudes of Guyanese undergraduate students towards the human papillomavirus (HPV) and its vaccine

Although cervical cancer is a leading cause of death among Guyanese women, there still appears to be a low uptake rate for the HPV vaccine.  The objective of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation of the knowledge, awareness and attitudes of undergraduate students towards HPV and the HPV vaccine.  A cross sectional study was conducted, using a stratified random sampling procedure with a 25% (164 respondents) sample at a tertiary institution in Guyana.  A 40-item questionnaire was used in this study.  Cronbach’s alpha for reliability of the research instrument was 0.81.  The research instrument addressed questions on demographic characteristics of respondents, awareness, knowledge and attitudes and source of information about HPV and the HPV vaccine.  The majority of respondents were females.  Although 83.5% of respondents had a prior awareness of either HPV or the HPV vaccine, none of the respondents had ever received the HPV vaccine.  Respondents had a somewhat fair level of knowledge about HPV and the HPV vaccine.  There was a statistically significant difference between male and female students in the mean HPV knowledge, attitudes and willingness to accept the HPV vaccine.  Only 40.9% of respondents were willing to take the HPV vaccine.   The decision to not want to take the HPV vaccine was influenced by several factors.  The observed differences and gender influences can have implications for local HPV education and awareness programmes and strategies.