Abstract Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) includes oncogenic subtypes linked to the majority of head and neck and genitourinary cancer cases. Despite suggestions to boost HPV vaccine uptake by increasing HPV awareness, public understanding remains suboptimal. This is especially noted among cultural and ethnic minorities, with limited literature addressing this gap. This study evaluated awareness of HPV and HPV-associated cancers among Arab Americans. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted between March and July 2023. Surveys were provided in both English and Arabic based on participants' preferences. Recruitment took place at various venues such as fairs, functions, and religious and cultural gatherings, targeting self-identifying Arab Americans residing in Michigan. Dependent variables included participants' awareness (yes/no/don’t know) of HPV, HPV vaccine, and HPV association with specific cancers (cervical, penile, anal, vulvar, vaginal, and oropharyngeal). Independent variables included age, gender, level of education, frequency of doctor and dentist visits in the past year, number of oral and vaginal sexual partners, and cigarette use. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey responses. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated the associations between HPV awareness and sociodemographic factors. Results: A total of 289 individuals were included in the study, of whom almost half (47%) were not aware of HPV and the HPV vaccine. Awareness of HPV association with specific cancers were as follows: 50.5% for cervical cancer, 48.4% for vaginal cancer, 42.4% for vulvar cancer, 41.5% for penile cancer, 38.9% for anal cancer, and 37.9% for mouth/throat cancer. In multivariable logistic regression models, compared to females, males were less likely to be aware of HPV vaccine (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.19 – 0.72); or of HPV association to cervical (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.19-0.73) and anal (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26-0.94) cancers. Similarly, respondents who had lower education were less likely to be aware that HPV could cause cervical (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.14-0.69), anal (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.13-0.69), as well as mouth/throat (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14-0.80) cancers compared to those with college degrees. Conclusions: Awareness of HPV, the vaccine and related cancers among Arab Americans are suboptimal. Being female or having a college education correlates with greater awareness of HPV and HPV-associated cancers. This underscores the necessity for targeted interventions to improve awareness among this population. Future interventions should focus on increasing knowledge of how HPV can cause several cancers and how those cancers could be prevented through HPV vaccination. Citation Format: Eric Adjei Boakye, Nada Al-Antary, Reem F Siddiqui, Marissa Gilbert, Lamis Fakhoury, Mrudula Nair, Milkie Vu, Farzan Siddiqui. Knowledge of HPV vaccination and HPV-associated cancers among Arab- Americans [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A109.
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Nov 7, 2024
Laila Abdel-Salam + 1
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