178214 Are attitudes and beliefs about the HPV vaccine specific to that vaccine?

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Danielle C. Ompad, PhD , Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
Ann Boyer, MD , Department of Community/Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY
Ann-Gel S. Palermo , Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
Abby Rudolph, MPH , Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Silvia Amesty, MD, MPH, MSEd , Center for Family and Community Medicine, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY
David Vlahov, PhD , Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
Cervical Health Intervention Working Group Harlem Community and Academic Partnership , Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
An HPV vaccine has been available since 2006. Information about knowledge, attitudes and beliefs (KAB) towards the HPV vaccine is critical to program development. We aimed to determine whether KAB were specific to the HPV vaccine or to vaccines in general. A community-based sample of 250 people aged ≥18 years were recruited in New York City between 10/2006 and 9/2007. The sample was 34% women, 48% Black, 39% Hispanic, and 6% White; the mean age was 39.8 years. 35% had heard of the HPV vaccine. We asked 14 KAB questions about the HPV, HBV and influenza vaccines that focused on potential concerns if participants were vaccinated. We compared HPV KAB to HBV and influenza KAB separately using a two-sample test of proportions. There were no significant differences between HPV and HBV KAB. For HPV and influenza comparisons, we noted significant differences: if vaccinated, more people reported that they would not become infected influenza and be worried about a) testing positive for influenza, b) having influenza, and c) minor influenza vaccine-related side effects as compared to the HPV vaccine. These preliminary results suggest that attitudes towards the HPV vaccine are generally not specific to that vaccine and that people are more worried about side effects related to a well-established vaccine. However, the majority of people did not believe or were unsure that the HPV vaccine would prevent HPV. Future studies are needed to examine whether KAB among parents, who are important stakeholders for the HPV vaccine, are vaccine specific.

Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize that attitudes towards the HPV vaccine could be specific to that vaccine or reflect attiutudes towards STD vaccines or all vaccines in general. 2. Discuss what attitudes may be HPV vaccine specific and why 3. Discuss what attitudes maybe generalized to all vaccines and why

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conceived, designed, implemented and analyzed the data for the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
Merck HPV vaccine KAB research grant recipient

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.