Knowledge about Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer Prevention among Intern Nurses

Objective: Intern nurses will play an important role in the use of vaccination to prevent cervical cancer. This study assesses the knowledge about human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer prevention among intern nurses. Methods: We developed a questionnaire to investigate intern nurses' knowledge about HPV infection and cervical cancer prevention. Participants included 323 intern nurses from eight schools. Results: The effective response rate was 79.8%. Some (7.0%) knew that early-stage cervical cancer is commonly asymptomatic. Only 9.7% knew that infection is generally asymptomatic and 20.5% knew that vaccination has no major side effects. There were differences in gender, age, school type, and place of residence for several questions. Conclusions: This study indicates a low level of knowledge about HPV infection and cervical cancer prevention among intern nurses. Our findings highlight the need for more education in this topic to increase the knowledge of intern nurses.