Is the investment of developing a smartphone application based intervention promoting HPV vaccine uptake and completion among young adult, African American women worthwhile? Feasibility assessments of an internet community compared to an emergency department based population

Objectives: To compare perceived feasibility of a smartphone based intervention (SBI) at improving human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake among young adult, African American (AA) women; To discover the variance in social acceptability of an HPV vaccine uptake driven smartphone application among two distinct populations matched on age and race/ethnicity. Methods: A survey based, cross sectional study was implemented among 41 young adult, AA women aged 18-26 years from two settings: the internet (n=21) and patients seeking non-emergent care in an emergency department (n=19). Results: The frequency analysis of the internet and ED population are as follows, respectively: age majority was 20-21 years (42.9%) vs. 24-26 years (47.4%), age at sexual debut – 18 years (28.6%) vs. 16 years (31.6%), existing health insurance coverage – private (57.1%) vs. Medicaid (47.4%), no source of income – 9.5% vs. 26.3%, some college education 66.7% vs. 52.6%, previously had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) – 19.0% vs. 15.8%, lacked a consistent sexual partner – 47.6% vs. 21.1%, used no form of contraception – 33.3% vs. 21.1%, reported two sexual partners – 14.3% vs. 31.6%, comfort with smartphone use - 38.1% vs. 52.6%, belief that HPV was transmitted via skin to skin contact in the genital area - 57.1% vs. 15.8%, reported receipt of the HPV vaccine - 14.3% vs. 21.1%, belief that a SBI would be effective at improving HPV vaccine uptake– 61.9% vs. 57.9%, and confirmed willingness to participate in a SBI – 66.7% vs. 47.4%. Conclusion: Study findings suggest a SBI would be embraced by the targeted population. Notable differences were variance in age, sexual debut, lack of income, contraception use, or a consistent sexual partner, comfort with smartphone use, and willingness to participate in a SBI. Although SBI potentially enhances social desirability, success is more likely among internet based communities.