HPV Vaccine Knowledge and Perceived Risk of Cervical Cancer among Female Taiwanese College Students

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women and causes approximately 275,000 deaths per year worldwide (WHO, 2013). An estimated 529,000 new cases of cervical cancer were reported (WHO, 2011). Therefore, cervical cancer substantially affects women worldwide. In Taiwan, according to the report of Taiwan Cancer Registry for 2010, cervical cancer is the seventh most common cancer, accounting for 4.22% of all cancers in Taiwanese women (Taiwan Cancer Registry, 2010). Approximately 79 million Americans are currently infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV) (CDC, 2013). Nearly 14 million people are infected annually (CDC, 2013). HPV is a sexually transmitted infection that causes genital warts and is connected to cases of cervical cancer (CDC, 2013). Studies have reported low awareness regarding the newly released vaccine for HPV and a link between HPV and cervical cancer (Wong, 2009; Wolwa, 2013). Ilter et al. (2010) surveyed 525 women to examine their knowledge about HPV vaccines. The result indicated that most respondents (56%) were unaware of HPV. Dursun et al. (2009) found that 45% of survey respondents were aware of HPV and 55% had no knowledge about HPV; 43% of the women surveyed knew HPV could cause genital lesions. Coleman et al. (2011) determined that 40% of respondents were aware of HPV vaccines and 94% were willing to vaccinate themselves or their daughters. In other words, more than half of those surveyed lacked awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine. Having numerous sexual partners is a major risk factor for cervical cancer, because