Abstract A043: Trusted sources of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine information in Mexican American parents: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with many types of cancers that disproportionately impact Hispanics. Mortality is 20% higher in Hispanic women than non-Hispanic white women who have cervical cancer. Hispanic men are 4x times more likely to have HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer than women (9,100 cases vs. 2,000 cases, respectively) and Hispanic males have higher rates of HPV-associated penile cancer than non-Hispanics. An HPV vaccine exists that can prevent 90% of HPV-associated cancers; however, HPV vaccination rates have declined by approximately 75% in adolescents during the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to identify trusted sources of HPV vaccine information in Hispanics of Mexican American origin. A cross-sectional study design with an online survey was used to collect data from Mexican American parents of children 11-17 years of age. Two hundred and twenty-five parents (M age = 38.30, SD = 7.30) who identified predominately as female (83.1%) were included in the study. Over a third (39.1%, n = 88) of the participants reported to have three or more children and most of the sample (68%; n =153) reported to have vaccinated at least one of their children with the HPV vaccine. When participants were asked who they trust to provide information about the HPV vaccine, the top five trusted sources of HPV vaccine information were medical doctors (94.7%), registered nurses (52%), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (47.1%), the World Health Organization (43.1%), and pharmacists (25.3%). The least trusted sources of HPV vaccine information were the president of the U.S. (7.6%) and religious leaders (2.7%). Linear regression models revealed that HPV vaccine acceptance was associated with trusting registered nurses (p < .001) and the Centers for Disease and Control (p = .014) for recommending the HPV vaccine. Lastly, we examined the association between family-held beliefs about vaccines and personal beliefs about vaccines. Correlations ranged from -.28 to .72. The strongest correlation was between having a family with negative feelings about vaccines while growing up and believing that vaccines can cause serious illness (r = 0.72; p < .001). Importantly, the family-held belief that vaccines cause autism was strongly correlated with personal beliefs that vaccines cause autism (r = 0.56; p < .001). Several important findings emerged in the current study highlighting the importance of having trusted sources of HPV vaccine information to promote the HPV vaccine. Our findings have implications for designing health communications and interventions that incorporate trusted sources of HPV vaccine information to promote the HPV vaccine in Mexican American families. Citation Format: Gabriel A. Frietze, Alyssa A. Martinez, Surendranath S. Shastri. Trusted sources of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine information in Mexican American parents: A cross-sectional study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A043.