Impact of an Adolescent Educational Program for Preventing Cervicouterine Cancer

Our aim was to define whether an educational program for adolescents increase their knowledge about the risk associated with sexual behavior and HPV infection in the genesis of cervix cancer (CC). This is a prospective, observational, and pretetst-posttest study. The target population, (N=116 children) included all school-age children enrolled in public schools belonging to Isabel Riquelme Family Health Centre (mean age 13 ± 0.8 y, ranging 11-14 y), Chile. From them, 51 voluntaries were further evaluated. The level of knowledge on sexual risk factors associated to the genesis of CC was assessed through a test especially designed and validates. The test was applied before and after an educational session. Data analysis included the Proc Mixed statement for repeated measures and the McNemar test for paired samples. Data were processed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). The results showed that the percentage of correct responses significantly increased from pretest (56.5a ± 1.6 %) to posttest (78.9b ± 1.7) (P< 0.0001) and this phenomena was independent of gender. However, in the posttest period, the grades were significantly higher in older adolescent females aged 14 years. The knowledge about risk factor associated with sexual behavior and HPV infection increased significantly in men (1.3 and 2 fold, respectively) and (1.3 fold) in women. In conclusion, the findings confirm the general agreement that independently of sex, an educational intervention focused on adolescents significantly increase their knowledge about risk factors associated to the genesis of CC.