OBJECTIVE: To identify the components of a human papillomavirus (HPV) message contributing to reducing the stigma of HPV in cervical cancer. METHODS:294 ethnic Chinese women attending a community-based clinic in Hong Kong were randomly allocated to read one of three written HPV messages: Group 'lr+hrHPV': low-risk and high-risk HPVs facts, Group 'hrHPV': high-risk HPV facts only and Group 'ds+hrHPV': high-risk HPV facts and de-stigmatising components, namely being anti-stereotypical, motivational and low in complexity. Main outcome measures were high-risk HPV-related sexual stigma, knowledge, attitude towards message, and intention to be HPV-tested measured by self-administered questionnaires immediately before and after reading. RESULTS: Message allocation had a significant effect on sexual stigma (F = 5.219, p = 0.006). Participants who read message ds+hrHPV showed the least stigma, and were significantly less likely to believe that high-risk HPV infection implicated promiscuity, non-monogamy or that monogamy offered complete protection against high-risk HPV. The genital HPV-focused message was more stigmatising than cervical cancer-focused messages. Of all participants, 93% (237/254) and 97% (260/269) indicated a positive intention to be HPV-tested before and after reading, respectively. There were no between-group differences noted in terms of knowledge and intention to be HPV-tested before or after reading. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that an HPV message containing specific de-stigmatising components may reduce public stigma towards high-risk HPV. Also, focusing solely on high-risk HPV in the context of cervical cancer helps to avoid the stigmatising effect of genital warts from tainting perceptions about high-risk HPV infection.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To identify the components of a human papillomavirus (HPV) message contributing to reducing the stigma of HPV in cervical cancer. METHODS: 294 ethnic Chinese women attending a community-based clinic in Hong Kong were randomly allocated to read one of three written HPV messages: Group 'lr+hrHPV': low-risk and high-risk HPVs facts, Group 'hrHPV': high-risk HPV facts only and Group 'ds+hrHPV': high-risk HPV facts and de-stigmatising components, namely being anti-stereotypical, motivational and low in complexity. Main outcome measures were high-risk HPV-related sexual stigma, knowledge, attitude towards message, and intention to be HPV-tested measured by self-administered questionnaires immediately before and after reading. RESULTS: Message allocation had a significant effect on sexual stigma (F = 5.219, p = 0.006). Participants who read message ds+hrHPV showed the least stigma, and were significantly less likely to believe that high-risk HPV infection implicated promiscuity, non-monogamy or that monogamy offered complete protection against high-risk HPV. The genital HPV-focused message was more stigmatising than cervical cancer-focused messages. Of all participants, 93% (237/254) and 97% (260/269) indicated a positive intention to be HPV-tested before and after reading, respectively. There were no between-group differences noted in terms of knowledge and intention to be HPV-tested before or after reading. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that an HPV message containing specific de-stigmatising components may reduce public stigma towards high-risk HPV. Also, focusing solely on high-risk HPV in the context of cervical cancer helps to avoid the stigmatising effect of genital warts from tainting perceptions about high-risk HPV infection.
Authors: Jane Turner; Patsy Yates; Lizbeth Kenny; Louisa G Gordon; Bryan Burmeister; Damien Thomson; Brett Hughes; Alexandra L McCarthy; Chris Perry; Raymond J Chan; Alana Fraser; Helen Skerman; Martin Batstone; Kathryn Carswell Journal: Trials Date: 2014-05-28 Impact factor: 2.279
Authors: Suneeta Krishnan; Preet K Dhillon; Afsan Bhadelia; Anna Schurmann; Partha Basu; Neerja Bhatla; Praveen Birur; Rajeev Colaco; Subhojit Dey; Surbhi Grover; Harmala Gupta; Rakesh Gupta; Vandana Gupta; Megan A Lewis; Ravi Mehrotra; Ann McMikel; Arnab Mukherji; Navami Naik; Laura Nyblade; Sanghamitra Pati; M Radhakrishna Pillai; Preetha Rajaraman; Chalurvarayaswamy Ramesh; G K Rath; Richard Reithinger; Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan; Jerard Selvam; M S Shanmugam; Krithiga Shridhar; Maqsood Siddiqi; Linda Squiers; Sujha Subramanian; Sandra M Travasso; Yogesh Verma; M Vijayakumar; Bryan J Weiner; K Srinath Reddy; Felicia M Knaul Journal: Cancer Causes Control Date: 2015-09-03 Impact factor: 2.506