Parental Acceptance and Uptake of the HPV Vaccine Among African-Americans and Latinos in the United States: A Literature Review

Background: African-Americans and Latinos suffer the highest cervical cancer burden compared to other populations and have sub-optimal HPV vaccination rates.

Objective: To condense research findings of studies conducted with African-Americans and Latinos on factors associated with HPV vaccine acceptability and uptake.

Methods: Standards for conducting an integrative review were used. PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PsycINFO databases were searched.

Results: Awareness about HPV and the HPV vaccine varied by demographics of parents. For Latino parents, acculturation and awareness were associated. However, findings were mixed regarding the association between acculturation and knowledge. Among African-Americans, higher socioeconomic status (SES) and awareness were associated. Sexuality-related concerns, concerns about safety and low perceived risk of daughter's acquiring HPV emerged as barriers to vaccination among Latinos and African-Americans. Among Latinos, vaccine acceptability was associated with the vaccine's cancer prevention benefits and a provider's recommendation. Among African-Americans, acceptability was associated with awareness, perceived risk of acquiring HPV, religion, and a provider's recommendation. Few interventions have been developed to increase HPV vaccine acceptance. Importantly, few studies assessed the influence of culture on vaccine acceptance and uptake.

Conclusions: Future research should be informed by culture-centered theories as this is the first step to inform the development of culturally-grounded interventions.