The effect of brochure information on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of Çukurova University Faculty of Health Sciences students about HPV vaccine

Objective: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection. Cervical cancer caused by HPV ranks ninth among cancer types in women in our country. The knowledge and attitude of midwifery and nursing students, who will take an active role in the provision of health services, will affect the public's approach towards vaccination. In our study, it was aimed to determine whether there would be a change in the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding the HPV vaccine after the students who were educated in the Faculty of Health Sciences of Çukurova University were informed with a brochure. Material and Method: The sample of the study was composed of first-year students studying in the Midwifery and Nursing Departments of the Faculty of Health Sciences in the academic year 2019-2020. Participants were given a Personal Information Form, HPV Infection Information Scale, Health Belief Model Scale for HPV Infection and Vaccination, and a questionnaire that questioned the impact of the brochure before and after the training initiative, 2 weeks apart. The data were evaluated through IBM SPSS Statistics Version 20.0. Results: In the study, 80% of the first-year students were reached (n = 231). The average age of the students was 19.59 ± 1.85 (min: 17 - max: 31) and 76.1% of them were women. It was observed that only 8.7% (n = 20) of the participants were informed about the HPV vaccine by their family physicians. The mean information scores of women and men increased significantly after the training (p = 0.001, p = 0.001). There was a significant decrease in the perceived severity in both sexes and a significant increase in the perceived barriers, benefit and susceptibility (p = 0.001, p = 0.001, p = 0.001, p = 0.001). After informing with the brochure, 60% of the women and 41.1% of men were willing to get vaccinated, and the desire to get vaccinated increased if the vaccine was free (F: 77.1%, M: 69.6%). Conclusion: It was determined that the brochure we prepared provided an increase in students' HPV knowledge, a change in their beliefs about HPV infection and vaccination, and an increase in their desire to get vaccinated. It was thought that if the vaccination fee was covered by the health insurance system, there could be an increase in vaccination rates.