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A Multi-state Evaluation of Oral Health Students’ Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer and HPV Vaccination

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Abstract

Human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancers (HPV-OPCs) are on the rise, yet HPV knowledge among dental professionals remains low. The purpose of this multi-state study was to examine sociodemographic factors associated with final year dental hygiene (DH), third year dental (DS3), and fourth year dental (DS4) students’ knowledge regarding HPV, HPV-OPC, and HPV vaccination. Twenty dental programs in the USA were approached in the implementation phase to complete an online, 153-item, self-administered questionnaire that was developed and tested in a previous study. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses were conducted in SAS version 9.4 to examine the relationship between sociodemographic variables with HPV, HPV-OPC, and HPV vaccination knowledge levels. This study included the participation of students from 15 dental programs (n = 380) with an overall response rate of 28%. Although the results cannot be generalized to the entire population of dental students in the USA, most students had inadequate overall HPV knowledge (65%), HPV-OPC knowledge (80%), and HPV vaccination knowledge (55%). While all student groups displayed adequate general HPV knowledge levels (≥ 70% correct responses), gender, racial, religious, age, and regional differences were observed. Future dental professionals need to have adequate levels of HPV knowledge to aid in reducing the HPV-OPC burden. This study identified sociodemographic factors related to lower knowledge of HPV, HPV-OPC, and HPV vaccination, and highlights groups of students with greater needs for HPV education. This study provides a foundation for future research and interventions to be developed. Dental institutions can use findings to strengthen curricula development.

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Acknowledgments

The authors of this study would like to thank the following dental programs for helping to recruit participants and conduct this research:

  1. 1.

    A. T. Still, Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health

  2. 2.

    Meharry Medical College, School of Dentistry

  3. 3.

    Roseman University, College of Dental Medicine

  4. 4.

    Texas A&M University, Baylor, College of Dentistry

  5. 5.

    University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry

  6. 6.

    University of Colorado, School of Dental Medicine

  7. 7.

    University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Dental Medicine

  8. 8.

    University of Texas, Houston, School of Dentistry

  9. 9.

    University of Utah, School of Dentistry

  10. 10.

    Western University, College of Dental Medicine

  11. 11.

    College of Southern Idaho, Dental Hygiene Program

  12. 12.

    Dixie State University, Dental Hygiene Program

  13. 13.

    Fortis College, Phoenix, Arizona, Dental Hygiene Program

  14. 14.

    Northern Arizona University, Dental Hygiene Program

  15. 15.

    Salt Lake Community College, Dental Hygiene Program

  16. 16.

    Weber State University, Dental Hygiene Program

Funding

Study funding was received from the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, the Dick and Timmy Burton Foundation, the University of Utah’s College of Nursing Research Committee, and the University of Utah’s Vice President for Research Faculty Research and Creative Grant Program. The REDCap application was funded by grant number 8UL1TR000105 (formerly UL1RR025764) NCATS/NIH) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: School of Dental Medicine, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Holdunn Rutkoski

  2. Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Djin L. Tay, Ryan Mooney & Deanna Kepka

  3. School of Dentistry, College of Nursing; Huntsman Cancer Institute, Cancer Control and Population Sciences, University of Utah, 2000 Circle of Hope, Room 4707, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Barbara L. Dixon, Lilliam M. Pinzon & James R. Winkler

  4. College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Deanna Kepka

Authors
  1. Holdunn Rutkoski
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  2. Djin L. Tay
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  3. Barbara L. Dixon
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  4. Lilliam M. Pinzon
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  5. Ryan Mooney
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  6. James R. Winkler
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  7. Deanna Kepka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deanna Kepka.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Rutkoski, H., Tay, D.L., Dixon, B.L. et al. A Multi-state Evaluation of Oral Health Students’ Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer and HPV Vaccination. J Canc Educ 35, 1017–1025 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01561-y

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