Awareness and knowledge of physicians and residents on the non-sexual routes of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and their perspectives on anti-HPV vaccination in Jordan.

Background and objectivesAlthough penetrative sex is the most common route of HPV infection, there is strong evidence of non-sexual modes of transmission. As the first of its kind, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge and awareness of Jordanian physicians on such routes.MethodsA questionnaire was conducted among a national Jordanian sample of physicians from Jordanian health sectors. The survey included questions assessing participants' knowledge on HPV, non-sexual routes of infection and HPV vaccines. Physicians' attitudes towards HPV screening and vaccination were covered. Statistical analysis was carried out using SAS 9.4, ANOVA, post-hoc Tukey-Honest test and Kruskal-Wallis test. All significant differences were set at α = 0.05.ResultsA total of 412 participants completed the survey. Physicians showed a huge deficit in knowledge on nonsexual routes of HPV transmission. They agreed that the most and least common routes of non-sexual transmission are skin to mucosa (64%) and contaminated water (15%), respectively. Females showed significantly better knowledge in all aspects of HPV transmission and vaccination (pConclusionsThe noteworthy findings of this study is the extremely low level of knowledge on non-sexual routes of HPV infection among Jordanian physicians. Increasing the level of awareness of physicians and healthcare workers on these routes and their association with cervical and other cancers through university curricula and other reliable sources is strongly recommended

Correlation between total knowledge scores and attitude towards HPV vaccination and screening.

Correlation between total knowledge scores and attitude towards HPV vaccination and screening.</p

Reasons for not recommending the vaccine to the patients.

Reasons for not recommending the vaccine to the patients.</p

Reasons for not taking the vaccine.

Background and objectivesAlthough penetrative sex is the most common route of HPV infection, there is strong evidence of non-sexual modes of transmission. As the first of its kind, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge and awareness of Jordanian physicians on such routes.MethodsA questionnaire was conducted among a national Jordanian sample of physicians from Jordanian health sectors. The survey included questions assessing participants’ knowledge on HPV, non-sexual routes of infection and HPV vaccines. Physicians’ attitudes towards HPV screening and vaccination were covered. Statistical analysis was carried out using SAS 9.4, ANOVA, post-hoc Tukey-Honest test and Kruskal-Wallis test. All significant differences were set at α = 0.05.ResultsA total of 412 participants completed the survey. Physicians showed a huge deficit in knowledge on nonsexual routes of HPV transmission. They agreed that the most and least common routes of non-sexual transmission are skin to mucosa (64%) and contaminated water (15%), respectively. Females showed significantly better knowledge in all aspects of HPV transmission and vaccination (pConclusionsThe noteworthy findings of this study is the extremely low level of knowledge on non-sexual routes of HPV infection among Jordanian physicians. Increasing the level of awareness of physicians and healthcare workers on these routes and their association with cervical and other cancers through university curricula and other reliable sources is strongly recommended.</div

The prior knowledge of the nonsexual routes of HPV transmission among the study participants.

The prior knowledge of the nonsexual routes of HPV transmission among the study participants.</p

Participants answers to knowledge assessment questionnaire about HPV.

Participants answers to knowledge assessment questionnaire about HPV.</p

Assessment of participants attitude toward HPV screening and testing.

Assessment of participants attitude toward HPV screening and testing.</p

Human papillomavirus (HPV) attitude scores based on participants age, gender, specialty, experience, and workplace.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) attitude scores based on participants age, gender, specialty, experience, and workplace.</p

Participants knowledge about HPV vaccine and their opinions about vaccines in Jordan.

Participants knowledge about HPV vaccine and their opinions about vaccines in Jordan.</p

Human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge scores stratified by HPV general knowledge (K-HPV general), knowledge on non-sexual routes (K-nonsexual routes) of HPV transmission and knowledge on anti-HPV vaccines (K-HPV vaccine) based on participants age, gender, specialty, experience, and workplace.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge scores stratified by HPV general knowledge (K-HPV general), knowledge on non-sexual routes (K-nonsexual routes) of HPV transmission and knowledge on anti-HPV vaccines (K-HPV vaccine) based on participants age, gender, specialty, experience, and workplace.</p