Role of Education and Income in

PURPOSE: To assess the role education and household income play in maternal acceptance of HPV Vaccine of their daughters. METHODS: We interviewed up to 248 African American women from three Community Health center sites in Broward County, Florida. SAS software was used to analyze data on the education level and household income of women who were willing to vaccinate their daughters. We compared this to women who were not willing to vaccinate their children. Further analysis was done on dichotomous groupings of these variables RESULTS: Of the women who were interviewed, 74% were parents. Up to 34% of girls aged 18-28 years had received the HPV vaccine. 41% of women were willing to have their daughters vaccinated. Of those willing to vaccinate, 52% had less than a college education and 74% earned less than $15,000 annually; compared to 37% and 62% among mothers not willing to vaccinate their daughters. Mothers of Lower income level and lower education status were more likely to vaccinate their daughters. CONCLUSION: Despite high Cervical cancer rates and wide spread HPV infection among women, HPV vaccination among girls remains relatively low. Less than half of women were willing to vaccinate their daughters. Women earning less and of lower education status were more likely to vaccinate their daughters. Since the majority of girls receiving the vaccine require parental consent, improved maternal acceptance of the vaccine is expected to improve compliance.