What do Italian Adolescents Know about HPV and the HPV Vaccination? Results of an Observational Study

Background/Objectives: HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infectious agent worldwide and adolescents are at high risk of becoming infected with HPV. Our study aimed at understanding how much adolescents know about the virus and its effects, and to obtain infor-mation on attitudes and behaviors regarding HPV vaccination to close these gaps. Methods: Within the ESPRIT project, 598 lower and upper secondary school students from 3 Italian regions were surveyed between December 2023 and March 2024 using an online questionnaire with 7 questions on awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards HPV and the HPV vaccine. A regres-sion model was used to determine correlations based on sex, living context, province of residence and school type. Results: Younger students believed that HPV causes HIV/AIDS (8.9%) or hepati-tis C (3.0%) and rarely mentioned anal (21%) and oral sex (9.6%) as ways of transmission. Among older students the misconceptions were similar, with worrying rates of students stating that HPV causes cancer only in women (18%) or men (2.4%), and low rates of identifying trans-mission risk from anal (41%) and oral (34%) intercourse and genital contact (38%). HPV vac-cination rate was quite low (47% in younger, 61% in older students). Considering regressions, the living context was decisive for the knowledge of younger students; sex, school type and province of residence in older students. Conclusions: Awareness and knowledge of HPV and the HPV vaccine are low among Italian students, and reported vaccination coverage is below the national target. Coordinated efforts at national level are needed to address this public health issue.