Beliefs About HPV Vaccine's Success at Cervical Cancer Prevention Among Adult US Women

Background: Beliefs are known to be a key determinant in vaccines' uptake. However, little is known about beliefs surrounding the success of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in preventing cervical cancer in the United States.

Methods: Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey 5 Cycle 1 (2017) were analyzed for 1851 female respondents aged 18 years and older. Weighted multinomial logistic regression was employed to determine predictors of beliefs in the success of the HPV vaccine in preventing cervical cancer.

Results: Overall, 29.8% of women believed that HPV vaccine is successful in preventing cervical cancer, 6.6% believed it is not successful, and 63.6% did not know if the HPV vaccine is successful. Non-Hispanic blacks (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16 to 2.79), women with no more than 12 years of education (aOR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.17 to 3.60), those who did not know if they were advised by a health-care provider to get an HPV shot within the last 12 months (aOR = 4.19, 95% CI = 1.39 to 12.60), and those unaware of a family cancer history (aOR = 5.17, 95% CI = 1.48 to 18.21) were more likely to not know whether the HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer. Women younger than 65 years were more likely than elderly to believe that the HPV vaccine is not successful at preventing cervical cancer.

Conclusions: A substantial proportion of US women are uninformed about the HPV vaccine. To accelerate progress in the HPV vaccine's uptake, future interventions should incorporate educational programs, particularly targeting Non-Hispanic blacks, women with a lower level of education, and those younger than 65 years. Health-care providers' participation in promotion of patient education about HPV vaccination should also be increased.