Are Medical Students from Across the World Aware of Cervical Cancer, HPV Infection and Vaccination? A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study

This study aims to understand and compare the level of knowledge, the attitude and the awareness of cervical cancer, HPV infection and vaccination among medical students from across the globe. It was conducted by sharing a questionnaire on medical students’ Facebook groups. We successfully analysed 736 responses, of which 74.3% were females and 25.7% males. Their mean age was 23.14. As regards to the respondents’ knowledge of the risk factors for cervical cancer, 28.8% of the participants identified HPV, 23.5% chose “Having many sexual partners”, 15.4% identified “Starting the sexual life at a young age”, 14.7% chose HIV and 13.3% answered smoking. Regarding the knowledge of the Pap test, 92.4% of the students stated that they knew what it is, although 98.5% of these respondents chose the correct answer. Concerning the knowledge of early warning signs of cervical cancer, 34.4% recognised vaginal bleeding. According to our research, American, Eastern and Western European students had more knowledge regarding the risk factors, early signs of cervical cancer and Pap test than African and Asian students. A total of 50% of the sexually active females had gone at least once to be screened by the means of a Pap test. A total of 39.8% of the participants stated that they had received the HPV vaccine. The findings of our research highlight the need for additional education measures to improve knowledge and awareness regarding HPV infection, especially among medical students, since they will be future healthcare providers.