KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTIONS, AND BEHAVIORS OF RUSSIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS REGARDING HPV, HPV-RELATED DISEASES, AND HPV VACCINATION

Author

Maria Vladimirovna Alexandrova, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

12-1-2012

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Health Education

First Advisor

Fetro, Joyce

Abstract

Background: The HPV vaccine has been introduced to the public and the medical community since June 2006 for the vaccination of females and since November 2009 for the vaccination of males ages 9-26 years old. The purposes of this research were to explore multiple factors and relationships among Health Belief Model (HBM) constructs (perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and perceived benefits) and mediating factors (self-efficacy and cues to action) related to HPV, HPV-associated diseases, and HPV vaccine among Russian college students and to determine which factors were most important when considering who would/would not seek HPV vaccination. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational survey design was used in this study. An existing self-report questionnaire HPV Study Survey was adapted with the permission from the author. One thousand two hundred participants were contacted by Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, Veliky Novgorod, Russia registrar's office through e-mails and messaging using two social networks through simple random sampling method using the SQL statement "ORDER BY NEWID" propriety of Microsoft algorithm out of the total student population (9,923 students). The survey was distributed through SurveyMonkey^TM survey software that was activated December 2011 - April 2012. Results: Two hundred seventy students replied to the survey (22.5% response rate) and 117 participants fully completed it out of 270 who responded to the survey (43.33% completion rate). The initial response rate increased 4.4 times using social networks messaging compared to e-mailing invitations. Overall, average knowledge levels were moderate. Participants' behaviors regarding their sexual activity showed that the majority of participants were sexually active. Participants' perceptions (susceptibility, severity, barriers, and benefits) and mediating factors (cues to action and self-efficacy) were moderate. Participants' behavioral intention to get HPV vaccination was moderate. There were statistically significant differences between males and females in perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and in three behavioral items (having had sexual contact; age of having had sexual contact and sex for the first time). Sixty percent of the variance in behavioral intention getting HPV vaccination could be explained by two HBM constructs (perceived benefits and self-efficacy). Self-efficacy was the number one predictor of behavioral intention (p < 0.001) and perceived benefits were the number two predictor of behavioral intention (p < 0.01).