Gender Differences on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Knowledge among Secondary School Students in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State

Abstract

The study investigated gender differences on human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge among secondary school students in Nsukka LGA, Enugu State. Two research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. Cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of 14,627 secondary school students in Nsukka LGA, Enugu State. The sample size for the study was 600 respondents which was determined using Taro Yamane’s formula. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to draw the sample size for the study. The instrument used for data collection was researcher-designed questionnaire titled “HPV Knowledge Questionnaire” (HPVKQ). Five experts validated the HPVKQ. The Kuder-Richardson 20 was used to determine the reliability coefficient (internal consistency) of the HPVKQ and 0.78 was obtained. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was utilized for data analyses. Frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation (SD) were used for answering the research questions while independent sample t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that secondary school students had moderate level of knowledge of HPV knowledge (
= 13.1; SD= 8.60). The result further indicated that significant difference existed in the level of knowledge of HPV among secondary school students based on gender (t=3.08; df=595; p=0.000). The study recommended among others that public health educators should create more awareness of HPV among adolescents including secondary school students so as to enhance their knowledge.