Knowledge, Attitudes of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, and Intention to Obtain Vaccine Among Korean Female Undergraduate Students

The purpose of this study was to examine knowledge about the human papillomavirus and attitudes toward human papillomavirus and human papillomavirus vaccination among Korean female undergraduate students. Moreover, this study sought to identify factors associated with intention to obtain the human papillomavirus vaccine. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 297 Korean female undergraduate students. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test or ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Only 37.8% of the participants were aware of human papillomavirus. The percentage of correct answers for knowledge about human papillomavirus was 40.6%. Factors associated with intention to obtain the human papillomavirus vaccine were: wanting more education about the vaccine, disease severity, knowledge of human papillomavirus, awareness of the human papillomavirus vaccine, human papillomavirus attributes, and susceptibility; these variables accounted 31.6% of the variance in scores for intention to obtain human papillomavirus vaccination. Findings from this study suggested a need for more active education to reduce the risk of human papillomavirus infection among female undergraduate students. Educational programs should be developed and evaluated, specifically focused on disease severity, susceptibility, awareness of human papillomavirus vaccine, and attributes of human papillomavirus.