Knowledge, attitude and practice on “human papilloma virus vaccination” among male medical undergraduate and postgraduate students in a tertiary care teaching centre: an observational and cross sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20251720Keywords:
Attitude, HPV vaccination, Knowledge, Male medical students, PracticeAbstract
Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a significant health risk for males, yet awareness and vaccination rates remain low. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice levels regarding HPV and its vaccination among male medical students.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a structured, pre-tested questionnaire among 165 male medical students in a tertiary care centre in Central India. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and un-paired ‘t’ tests.
Results: The study identified significant gaps in knowledge about HPV vaccinations. Only 34.8% of respondents answered correctly on average to questions about HPV vaccines, though 81.4% recognized the need for vaccination. The overall attitude towards HPV vaccination was positive, with 73.4% expressing confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy.
Conclusions: Despite a generally positive attitude towards HPV vaccination, knowledge among medical students remains inadequate in certain areas. Despite knowing about the vaccine, uptake was low, illustrating the "knowledge-practice gap" in healthcare. Increased educational efforts are recommended to improve knowledge and uptake of HPV vaccination.
Metrics
References
Garolla A, Graziani A, Grande G, Maretti C, Pelloni M, Pizzol D, et al. HPV-related diseases in male patients: an underestimated conundrum. J Endocrinol Invest. 2023;47(2):261–74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-023-02192-3
Ramamoorthy T, Sathishkumar K, Das P, Srinivasan R, Ganesan TS, Vinayak K, et al. Epidemiology of human papillomavirus related cancers in India: findings from the National Cancer Registry Programme. Ecancermedicalscience. 2022;16:89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3332/ecancer.2022.1444
Rao MIS, Kasi SG, Dhir SK, Gupta M, Sharma S, Sahu M, et al. Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Immunization Practices (ACVIP): Recommended Immunization Schedule (2023) and update on immunization for children aged 0 through 18 years. Indian Pediatr. 2024;61(2):113–25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-024-3104-5
Khamisy-Farah R, Adawi M, Jeries-Ghantous H, Muallem Y, Elkhatib I, Aboud T, et al. Knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV), attitudes and practices towards anti-HPV vaccination among Israeli pediatricians, gynecologists and internal medicine doctors: development and validation of an ad hoc questionnaire. Vaccines (Basel). 2019;7(4):157. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines7040157
Aggarwal S, Agarwal P, Singh AK. Human papilloma virus vaccines: a comprehensive narrative review. Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2023;37(1):100780. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctarc.2023.100780
Kataria PR, Kalikar MV, Dutta PA, Kataria AR. Knowledge, attitude and practice of HPV vaccination among female undergraduate medical students at a tertiary centre: a cross-sectional study. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2025;12(4):1787–92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20250927
Radhika MS, Sadiqunissa, Sharma S, Banu H. Awareness and knowledge of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine in prevention of cervical cancer among medical students. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2018;7:5026–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20184960
Holman DM, Benard V, Roland KB, Watson M, Liddon N, Stokley S, et al. Barriers to human papillomavirus vaccination among US adolescents: a systematic review of the literature. JAMA Pediatr. 2014;168(1):76–82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.2752
Durusoy R, Yamazhan M, Taşbakan MI, Ergin I, Akin A, Karavus M, et al. HPV vaccine awareness and willingness of first-year students entering university in western Turkey. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2010;11(5):1695–701.
Fuller KM, Hinyard L. Factors associated with HPV vaccination in young males. J Community Health. 2017;42(6):1127–32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-017-0361-4
Stanley C, Secter M, Chauvin S, Gagnon D, Charlebois J, Dionne A, et al. HPV vaccination in male physicians: a survey of gynecologists and otolaryngology surgeons’ attitudes towards vaccination in themselves and their patients. Papillomavirus Res. 2018;5:89–95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pvr.2018.03.001
Lingam AS, Koppolu P, Alhussein SA, Gad MM, Alotaibi WH, Alghamdi AS, et al. Dental students’ perception, awareness and knowledge about HPV infection, vaccine and its association with oral cancer: a multinational study. Infect Drug Resist. 2022;15:3711–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/IDR.S365715
Pal D, Sahoo B, Taywade M, Dey B, Sinha M, Choudhury A, et al. Evidence of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding human papilloma virus vaccination at the community level in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2024;25(3):793–800. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31557/APJCP.2024.25.3.793
Pitts M, Smith A, Croy S, Lyons A, Mitchell A, Garland S. Singaporean men’s knowledge of cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) and their attitudes towards HPV vaccination. Vaccine. 2009;27(22):2989–93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.02.101
Napolitano F, Napolitano P, Liguori G, Angelillo IF, Di Giuseppe G, D’Errico MP, et al. Human papillomavirus infection and vaccination: knowledge and attitudes among young males in Italy. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2016;12(6):1504–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2016.1156271
Khamisy-Farah R, Endrawis M, Odeh M, Jarrar Y, Khatib W, Salman Y, et al. Knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV), attitudes and practices towards anti-HPV vaccination among Israeli nurses. J Cancer Educ. 2023;38(4):1391–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-023-02281-0
Albayat SS, Mundodan JM, Elmardi K, Joseph M, Alhumaidi M, AlHarthy A, et al. Knowledge, attitude and practices regarding human papilloma virus vaccination among physicians in Qatar. Womens Health (Lond Engl). 2024;3:35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057241227360
Awan UA, Naeem W, Khattak AA, Saeed K, Qazi S, Rehman N, et al. An exploratory study of knowledge, attitudes and practices toward HPV associated anal cancer among Pakistani population. Front Oncol. 2023;13:64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1257401
Sharma H, Anil K, Parekh S, Jadhav S, Kulkarni PS, Tewari T, et al. A phase-I, open label clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of qHPV vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. in adults. Vaccine X. 2023;14(10):100313. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvacx.2023.100313
Cooper DL, Hernandez ND, Rollins L, Akintobi TH, Goodin K, Blumenthal DS, et al. HPV vaccine awareness and the association of trust in cancer information from physicians among males. Vaccine. 2017;35(20):2661–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.03.083
D’Errico MP, Tung WC, Lu M, Gropper SS, Kline NE, Spencer N, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices related to human papillomavirus vaccination among college students in a state university: implications for nurse practitioners. J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. 2021;33(9):709–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/JXX.0000000000000431
Farsi NJ, Baharoon AH, Jiffri AE, Alharbi M, Alabbasi A, Alzahrani T, et al. Human papillomavirus knowledge and vaccine acceptability among male medical students in Saudi Arabia. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2021;17(7):1968–74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2020.1856597
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
