Surveying fifth – year students’ awareness about cervical cancer and hpv vaccination in Faculty of Pharmcy – Nguyen Tat Thanh University

Abstract

Cervical cancer is one of the four most common cancers in women and ranks second in terms of risk after breast cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2018 there are 07 Vietnamese women dying everyday because of cervical cancer. On the other hand, the incidence rate of cervical cancer is 4-fold higher in Ho Chi Minh City than in Hanoi. Therefore, this present study was conducted to assess the awareness and behaviour of cervical cancer among students. Survey on female students of 14DDS course in faculty of pharmacy in Nguyen Tat Thanh University. This study applied probability sampling methods with cluster random sampling to collect data of 438 female students. Data was analyzed by using statistical software SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistical version 20.0) and evaluated as descriptive statistical. Results indicate Pharmacy students have the basic knowledge about cervical cancer. However, the majority incorrect answers is about the transmission: 79% thought that HPV through blood, 71% passed from mother to child and 90.6% of students mistakenly thought that HPV causes ovarian cancer. 82.2% of the students knew that the vaccination was the most effective against HPV, but only 33.3% of the students had the vaccination. According to research results, students will become advisors for patients but their health knowledge is quite low, especially the awareness and attitude towards cervical cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate with relevant agencies, departments and branches to create conditions for students to improve their knowledge to help society.