Diverse caregivers’ HPV vaccine-related awareness and knowledge

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives: To assess factors associated with HPV vaccine-related awareness and knowledge among caregivers of adolescents from five ethnic community groups in Utah. Design: For this community-based participatory research study, we surveyed N = 228 caregivers of teens aged 11–17 years from African American, African refugee, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community groups in Utah about their HPV vaccine awareness and knowledge. Results: Participants exhibited high awareness of cervical cancer (71.05%), moderate awareness of HPV (53.95%), and low awareness of the HPV vaccine (46.49%). HPV vaccine-related knowledge was mostly worse, with fewer than half the participants reporting knowing that HPV can cause cervical cancer (46.93%), that most people are infected with HPV at some point in their lives (28.95%), that HPV is asymptomatic in females (36.40%) and males (37.28%), that the HPV vaccine is recommended for adolescent females (41.67%) and males (36.40%), and that the HPV vaccine requires more than one dose (27.19%). HPV vaccine-related awareness and knowledge were significantly associated with race/ethnicity, educational attainment, income, occupation, birthplace, parents’ birthplace, English usage, health insurance coverage, type of health insurance, and child having a primary care provider (all p < 0.05). HPV vaccine-related knowledge (p < 0.05) and awareness (p < 0.05) of caregivers were associated with a child in the household receiving the HPV vaccine. Conclusion: Our findings indicate a need to develop educational interventions in collaboration with diverse communities in Utah. We underscore the importance of promoting knowledge about the existence of the HPV vaccine, as well as deeper HPV vaccine-related issues (e.g. HPV risks, treatment, and recommendations).