Racial Difference in HPV Vaccine Awareness and Communication with Healthcare Providers

Introduction: HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. The substantial costs related to HPV prevention and treatment are 8 billion U.S. dollars annually. The high morbidity, mortality, and economic burden attributed to cancer-causing HPV call for researchers to address this public health concern. HPV vaccines provide hope to reduce disparities in HPV-related diseases. Evidence shows that awareness of HPV vaccines and communication with healthcare providers are critical in HPV vaccination decision. The purpose of this study was to investigate racial difference in these two factors.

Methods: Using data from the 2014 Health Information National Trends Survey, we conducted logistic regression analyses incorporating sample weights to examine racial difference in whether the respondent had ever “heard of HPV vaccines,” and “talked with healthcare providers about HPV vaccines.”

Results: The sample included 3185 adults (M = 43.87; 50.6% female). About 68% of the sample heard about HPV vaccines, however, only 28.7% of them discussed HPV vaccines with their healthcare providers. Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., household income, education, biological sex) and other associated factors (e.g., cancer fatalism, cancer history), the findings suggested that Hispanics (N = 511) were less likely to be aware of HPV vaccines (OR = .22; 95% CI= 0.11- 0.48; p = .000), while Asian Americans (n = 151) were more likely to discuss HPV vaccines with healthcare providers (OR = 3.70; 95% CI= 1.43- 9.55; p = .008) than other racial/ethnic groups.   

Conclusion: Our findings suggested an urgent need to increase awareness of HPV vaccines in Hispanic communities. Although Asian Americans were more likely to discuss HPV vaccines with their healthcare providers, their cervical cancer incidence rates remain high. Future research that examines initiation and quality of the communication of HPV vaccines with healthcare providers, and whether vaccine awareness and communication with healthcare providers predict vaccination behavior is needed for designing culturally congruent and effective interventions.