Men's awareness, perceptions and knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and vaccine

Background: HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). A prophylactic vaccine is currently in clinical trials in males.

Objective: To examine the awareness, perception of risk, and knowledge of HPV disease and HPV vaccine among young educated males.

Design/Methods: Voluntary, anonymous survey administered to male students from medical and law schools in Chicago, IL. For HPV knowledge score, 1 point given for each of 6 questions answered correctly (maximum score 6).

Results: 1,195 students completed the survey. 68.5% were Caucasian, 19.6% Asian, 3.4% Hispanic, 2% Black and 5.4% other races. 9% smoked. 89.5% were sexually active; 65% became sexually active between 16 and 20 years of age. 19% had 4-6, 11.4% 7-10, and 14.2% more than 10 partners. 21.2% rarely/never used condoms. Thirty percent saw their PCP annually; 26% rarely/never sought routine medical care.

Mean HPV knowledge score was 3.93. 97.2% of the students identified HPV as the cause of cervical cancer; only 63.2% knew HPV caused genital warts with 26.4% identifying HSV-1 as the cause. Seventy-eight percent knew of HPV vaccine; 75.2% would consider receiving vaccine. Primary barriers to receiving HPV vaccine included: not at risk (49.2%), cost (13.5%), and lack of time (9.6%).

Conclusions: This cohort of young males lacked knowledge regarding HPV and genital warts. Most would consider receiving HPV vaccine; the biggest barrier in 50% was perceived lack of risk for HPV disease. Education regarding prevalence of HPV disease and its consequences in males is needed to improve vaccine acceptance and uptake.