The effect of peer education on high school students' knowledge levels regarding Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection and vaccination

This study aimed to explore the impact of the peer education model on adolescents' knowledge levels regarding Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection and HPV vaccination. The study was conducted quasi-experimentally in a pretest-posttest single-group design. The study sample consisted of 913 students enrolled in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. The data of the study were collected between April and May 2023. Data were collected using the Demographic Information Form and the Human Papillomavirus Knowledge Scale (HPV-KS). It was determined that 8.8 % of the students had previously received information about HPV, of which 50 % had received this information through the media, and only 0.3 % of them had received the HPV vaccine. Before peer education, the mean HPV-KS score among students was 1.14 ± 3.54, while after peer education, the mean score increased to 23.78 ± 8.32, and this difference was found to be statistically significant (p