Patients’ knowledge and attitudes regarding human papillomavirus disease and the effectiveness of education in patients referred to the Dermatology Clinic of Baqiyatallah Hospital in 2020

Abstract

"Introduction: Human papillomavirus infection considers one of the leading causes of infection-related cancer worldwide. The general public's range of knowledge and understanding of human papillomavirus is low; the present study was done intending to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of patients with human papillomavirus and the effectiveness of educational intervention in those patients. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study. The study population included patients with genital human papillomavirus referred to Dermatology Clinic of Baqiyatallah Hospital in 2020. The patients filled out a pre-test questionnaire. In the next step, they were trained by the treating physician about the disease, transmission ways, complications, treatment methods, and laboratory tests, and available vaccines. After that, an educational pamphlet was given to the patient to complete and review the information. Moreover, a post-test was performed in the patient's next visit. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22. Results: 92 patients were included in the study. The levels of knowledge and attitude of patients were between 50 to 65% before training and training had a significant impact on improving the level of knowledge and attitude of patients (P 0.001) so that the level of knowledge and attitude of patients reached above 95%. Demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, and level of education were not related to the initial knowledge and attitude of individuals based on the statistical analysis (P 0.05). However, the knowledge of married people about the complications of the disease was more than single ones (P = 0.032). Conclusion: the level of knowledge about human papillomavirus and its complications, transmission ways, prevention and treatment is low, which has increased with training significantly "