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Beliefs and knowledge related to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among African Americans and African immigrants young adults

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Abstract

Background

Despite the disparate human papillomavirus (HPV) infection rates among sexually active Black young adults, HPV vaccine uptake remains low among this population. This study aimed to explore HPV beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge among Black young adults and provide recommendations on ways to improve vaccine uptake.

Methods

We used a mixed-method, convergent design to conduct five focus groups and administered a 40-item electronic survey that was developed with health belief model (HBM) constructs. We assessed HPV and vaccine knowledge, barriers, and attitudes toward vaccination. We analyzed quantitative data using descriptive statistics and bivariate methods. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using content analysis. Results were integrated to obtain a better understanding of the topic.

Results

Forty individuals participated in the study. The mean age was 22.2 ± 4.5 years and 55% identified as African immigrants. Integrated data revealed themes mapped to relevant HBM constructs. Almost one third (32.5%) of participants were unaware of their susceptibility to HPV infection and its severity. From focus group discussions, the majority (75%) believed that vaccines are beneficial. Major cues to action include promoting HPV vaccine uptake via community wide informational sessions, provider recommendation, and social and mass media campaigns.

Conclusion

Barriers to vaccine uptake, limited HPV knowledge, and lack of vaccine recommendation are important factors contributing to low vaccine uptake among Black young adults. Interventions to decrease barriers to HPV vaccination, increase HPV knowledge, address misconceptions, and unfavorable beliefs are needed to promote HPV vaccine uptake.

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Data availability

Due to privacy or ethical restrictions, the data that support the findings of this analysis are not publicly available; however, they are available upon request from the corresponding author.

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute, Markey Cancer Center Support Grant 3P30CA177558-08S1. Geographical Management of Cancer Health Disparities (GMaP) Supplement support for Adebola Adegboyega. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40536-0232, USA

    Adebola Adegboyega, Amanda T. Wiggins & Lovoria B. Williams

  2. College of Public Health, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Omoadoni Obielodan

  3. Prevention Research Center, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA

    Mark Dignan

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  1. Adebola Adegboyega
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  2. Omoadoni Obielodan
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  3. Amanda T. Wiggins
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  4. Mark Dignan
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  5. Lovoria B. Williams
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. AA performed data collection. OO, AW, and AA performed data analysis. AA and OO wrote the first draft of the manuscript and all authors reviewed versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adebola Adegboyega.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethical approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of University of Kentucky.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors affirm that human research participants provided informed consent for publication.

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Adegboyega, A., Obielodan, O., Wiggins, A.T. et al. Beliefs and knowledge related to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among African Americans and African immigrants young adults. Cancer Causes Control 34, 479–489 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-023-01678-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-023-01678-y

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