Knowledge of human papillomavirus infection and its prevention among adolescents and parents in the greater Milan area, Northern Italy

Table 3 Parents' and children's knowledge of HPV infection and vaccination, by gender.

	Parents					Students
	Mothers		Fathers		P value¹	Females		Males		P value²
	No.	%	No.	%		No.	%	No.	%
Have you ever heard of HPV?
No/Do not know	110	9.0	259	23.7		184	28.4	102	48.8
Yes	1115	91.0	834	76.9	<0.001	465	71.6	107	51.2	<0.001
Do you think HPV infection can be dangerous?
Yes	1026	92.0	735	88.1		421	90.5	96	89.7
No/Only when other health conditions are present/Do not know	89	8.0	99	11.9	0.004	44	9.5	11	10.3	0.80
Do you know how HPV infection is passed on?
Sexual intercourse	1049	94.1	762	91.4		421	90.5	99	92.5
Wrong answers/Do not know	66	5.9	72	8.6	0.02	44	9.5	8	7.5	0.52
What is the aim of HPV vaccination?
To prevent cervical cancer
Yes	1005	90.1	723	86.7		350	75.3	67	62.6
No/Do not know	110	9.9	111	13.3	0.02	115	24.7	40	37.4	0.008
To prevent a STD
Yes	104	9.3	100	12.0		56	12.0	15	14.0
No/Do not know	1011	90.7	734	88.0	0.06	409	88.0	92	86.0	0.58
When should HPV vaccination be given? ³
During the first year of life	36	3.2	25	3.0	0.77	14	3.0	3	2.8	1.00
Before sexual activity begins	852	76.4	621	74.5	0.32	351	75.5	72	67.3	0.08
After sexual activity has begun	57	5.1	48	5.8	0.53	37	8.0	8	7.5	0.87

STD, sexually transmitted disease. ¹ Mothers vs fathers. ² Females vs males. ³ As multiple answers were allowed, each was considered a dichotomous variable (yes/no); the numbers do not add up to the total because infrequent answers are not included.

ISSN: 1471-2458