{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T11:44:53Z","timestamp":1785930293814,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Dent. J.","Dentistry Journal"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is now responsible for the majority of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCCs), an HPV-related cancer of direct relevance to the dental profession; oral-health providers may be well-positioned to perform routine oral examination, recognize suspicious signs, refer appropriately, and educate patients about HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer and HPV vaccination. This study assessed knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HPV, HIV\/AIDS and HPV-related oral and oropharyngeal cancer among secondary-school students in Apulia, Italy, with particular attention to the dental setting. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by the University of Foggia among 1224 students from three secondary schools at the end of the 2025\/2026 school year) using a self-administered 108-item questionnaire. A 63-item composite knowledge score was computed; \u201cdon\u2019t know\u201d answers were scored as incorrect and adequate knowledge defined a priori as \u226560% (Bloom\u2019s cut-off). The minimum required sample (737) was derived using Cochran\u2019s formula adjusted for a cluster-sampling design effect. Results: Overall knowledge was low (mean 28.5%, SD 18.2); only 5% reached the \u226560% threshold (Bloom\u2019s cut-off). Only 14.8% of students were aware that HPV can cause oropharyngeal cancer, the lowest figure among all oncogenic outcomes assessed and significantly lower in boys (11.2%) than girls (17.3%; p = 0.003), despite boys carrying the higher OPSCC risk. Knowledge was independently associated with female sex, age and sexual experience. Despite poor knowledge, 61.2% of students would like to receive the HPV vaccine. Conclusions: The dental visit may represent an under-used opportunity to address this oral-cancer-prevention knowledge gap; the integration of oral-health professionals into school-based and clinical HPV-prevention strategies is a plausible public-health implication.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/dj14080486","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T10:41:42Z","timestamp":1785926502000},"page":"486","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) Regarding Sexually Transmitted Infections, Human Papillomavirus, and HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer Among Italian Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3576-4670","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gennaro","family":"Musella","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Noemi","family":"Giorgio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alejandro I.","family":"Lorenzo-Pouso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oral Medicine, Oral Surgery and Implantology Unit (MedOralRes), Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4633-4893","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Lo Muzio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9521-2521","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefania","family":"Cantore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Sciences, Health and Health Professions, Link Campus University, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4002-2736","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bojan","family":"Poposki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Periodontal Diseases, Faculty of Dentistry-Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlos Gabriel Morales","family":"Arenas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent Researcher, Santiago de Chile 8320000, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8758-1415","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Ballini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Sciences, Health and Health Professions, Link Campus University, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2537","DOI":"10.1002\/rmv.2537","article-title":"Human papillomavirus infection: Epidemiology, biology, host interactions, cancer development, prevention, and therapeutics","volume":"34","author":"Wolf","year":"2024","journal-title":"Rev. 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