University Students' Knowledge about the Relation between Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Head and Neck and Oral Cancers.

introductionHuman papillomavirus (HPV) causes the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world. It affects people regardless of gender and age, causing genital warts and cancer.

objectiveTo evaluate university students' knowledge of HPV and its relationship with head and neck and oral cancers.

methodsThis is a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire administered to undergraduate students at a public university (n=335).

resultsIn total, 69.3% of the participants were unaware of the relationship between HPV and head and neck cancers and 34.6% claimed that HPV may not cause oral cancer.  The chances of knowing about the relationship of HPV with head and neck cancers were significant for participants who knew that HPV could be asymptomatic (OR = 9.9; p = 0.029), that might cause genital warts in men (OR = 4.0; p = 0.015), and those aged 24 years or older (OR = 1.9; p = 0.021). However, undergraduate students in the field of health and medicine (OR = 0.419; p = 0.002), who had sex at least twice a week (OR = 0.471; p = 0.017), and were unaware of the target public for the HPV vaccine (OR: 0.222, p<0.001) were less likely to know about the relationship. Students who knew of the relationship between HPV and female (OR = 3.6; p = 0.010) and male genital warts (OR = 3.0; p = 0.005) or were immunized (OR = 1.8; p = 0.020) were more likely to understand the viral interaction with oral cancer. Those who were unaware of the population eligible for HPV vaccine (OR = 0.493; p = 0.017) also showed gaps in their knowledge of this relationship.

conclusionOur findings showed that there were limitations in the knowledge about HPV, its vaccine, and its relationship with head and neck and oral cancers.