Abstract
BackgroundAlthough lower uptake rates of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations have been documented, less is known about the relationships between awareness and acceptability, and other factors affecting HPV vaccine uptake.The current study aimed to estimate the potential effectiveness of increased HPV vaccine awareness on the acceptability of HPV vaccination in a nationally representative sample of women, using a methodology that controlled for potential non-random selection.MethodsThis study used a population-based sample from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey, a cross-sectional study of the US population aged 18 years or older, and focused on the subsample of 742 women who have any female children under the age of 18 years in the household. An instrumental variables bivariate probit model was used to jointly estimate HPV vaccine awareness and acceptability.ResultsThe proportion of HPV vaccine acceptability among the previously aware and non-aware groups was 58% and 47%, respectively. Results from the instrumental variables bivariate probit model showed that the estimated marginal effect of awareness on acceptability was 46 percentage points, an effect that was even greater than observed.ConclusionsAmong populations who are not currently aware of the HPV vaccine, the potential impact of raising awareness on acceptability of HPV vaccination is substantial. This finding provides additional support to strengthening public health programs that increase awareness and policy efforts that address barriers to HPV vaccination.
Highlights
Lower uptake rates of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations have been documented, less is known about the relationships between awareness and acceptability, and other factors affecting HPV vaccine uptake
Impact of HPV vaccine awareness on the acceptability of HPV vaccination In the probit model of acceptability in which the awareness variable was assumed to be exogenous (Table 2), awareness of the HPV vaccine was not found to be a statistically significant influence on the acceptability of the HPV vaccine with the estimated marginal effect of a 10-percentage-point increase
Results from the instrumental variable (IV) bivariate probit model in Table 3 showed that awareness of the HPV vaccine had a statistically significant and positive association with acceptability of the vaccine
Summary
Lower uptake rates of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations have been documented, less is known about the relationships between awareness and acceptability, and other factors affecting HPV vaccine uptake. The current study aimed to estimate the potential effectiveness of increased HPV vaccine awareness on the acceptability of HPV vaccination in a nationally representative sample of women, using a methodology that controlled for potential non-random selection. The persistent, albeit, diminishing socioeconomic disparities in overall cervical cancer incidence and mortality, can be partly explained by the constantly lower screening rates among disadvantaged populations, despite the widespread acceptance of the Papanicolau (Pap) test [9,10,11,12]. The recent Food and Drug Authority (FDA) approval of HPV vaccines which prevent the most common HPV infections
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