What Do U.S. Women Know About Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Cervical Cancer?
Many women with HPV show no symptoms of the virus, and infections often clear without need for treatment. Because of this, many women do not have the opportunity to speak with their physicians about HPV and therefore may not learn that some HPV infections are persistent and can develop into cervical cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) created the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to monitor health communications about cancer. In 2005, one high-priority research aim was to assess, for the first time, the awareness and knowledge of HPV in a nationally representative sample of women. To identify factors associated with U.S. women’s awareness of HPV and its link to cervical cancer, researchers from NCI analyzed cross-sectional data collected from more than 3,000 women ages 18 to 75 who responded to HINTS. Researchers found that: • Only 40 percent had ever heard about HPV; • Among them, less than half were aware of the virus’ connection to cervical cancer; • 64 perce
