Evaluation of Knowledge About Human Papillomavirus and Vaccination Among Women Screened for Cervical Cancer

In Turkiye, every sexually active woman between the ages of 30 and 65 is screened for cervical cancer free of charge every five years. However, the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has not yet been included in the national vaccination calendar.

This study aimed to determine the knowledge of women screened for cervical cancer about HPV and the HPV vaccine.

In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire consisting of a demographic information form, HPV vaccination status, and the HPV Knowledge Scale was administered to women aged 30-65. The scale has three subscales: 'General HPV Knowledge', 'HPV Test Knowledge', and 'HPV Vaccine Knowledge'. Data analysis included the Chi-square test for categorical data and the Mann-Whitney U test for numerical data.

Of the women involved in the study, 482 in number, 55.6% of them (n = 268) had been previously screened for cervical cancer. Only 1.9% (n = 9) had the HPV vaccine, and insufficient information was the most frequent reason for not being vaccinated (73.4%; n = 354). Among those who had previously been screened for HPV, 83.6% (n = 224) reported receiving information about HPV, and 67.5% (n = 181) reported receiving information about the HPV vaccine. General HPV and HPV test knowledge subscale scores were higher among those who had been screened (p < 0.001), but there was no difference in HPV vaccine knowledge subscale scores between those who had been screened and those who had not (p = 0.977).

Cervical cancer screening did not appear to have affected the level of knowledge regarding HPV vaccination. Subsequent studies can investigate the impact of providing standard HPV vaccine information during screening on vaccination rates.