Notara Venetia
Background: The human papilloma virus is sexually transmitted and is related to cancer mostly, yet notlimited, to the female reproductive system. However it is nowadays possible to prevent the particulartransmission of the virus due to the vaccine against HPV, among other screening and preventivemeasures.Aims: This exploratory descriptive research study, taking into account the high prevalence of HPV, itsoncogenic effect but also the opportunities of prevention, attempts to explore the degree of awareness ofhealth care service users of reproductive age regarding HPV and immunization against it in Greece.Methods: The population sample included individuals (n=144) of mean reproductive age (19-49 years old)selected as health care service users in Attica and Crete in 2009. A small scale descriptive quantitativesurvey was conducted employing a structured closed type questionnaire. The questionnaire includedquestions on the respondents’ socio-demographic profile, sexual behaviors, awareness of the HPV and thevaccine against HPV. The SPSS 13.0 software and descriptive statistics were employed to analyzing thedata.Results: An overrepresentation of women (68%) is observed in the sample, while the majority, yetmarginal, of participants hold higher education degrees (54%) and are married (56%). The vast majority ofthe respondents (93%) reported having sexual intercourse, while a significant percentage (62%) of therespondents reported regular use of protective means. Regarding the sources of information, only 16% ofthe participants appears to use valid sources, while considerable confusion about the symptoms of thedisease and the diagnostic methods is observed. 1 / 5 of the sample is not aware of the main ways oftransmission of the virus and 1 / 3 report wrong ways of transmission. Finally, only 8% of the sample isvaccinated against HPV and 30% is unaware of the vaccine.Conclusions: The self-reported sexual behaviors, information on HPV and the vaccine against the virus arealmost satisfactory. However an extremely small proportion of the respondents is immunized against HPV.Concurrently, significant knowledge gaps are evident regarding HPV and the vaccine against HPV.
