Healthcare Provider Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Acceptability in African American and Hispanic Adolescent Males and Their Caregivers

African Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately affected by HPV-related diseases. The HPV vaccine prevents genital warts, cervical and anogenital cancers. Previous research has demonstrated that healthcare providers' recommendations greatly influence HPV vaccine acceptability and uptake; however, barriers to uptake identified by providers are not well understood or considered in uptake efforts. This study assesses healthcare providers' perspectives regarding the identification of barriers to vaccine acceptability for low-income minority adolescent males and identifies provider practices for overcoming these challenges. Four focus groups of healthcare providers (n=29) serving low-income adolescent African American and Hispanic males were conducted. The focus group protocol was based on the Health Belief Model to assess factors that may influence providers' beliefs about potential barriers to vaccine acceptability. Preliminary data analysis of provider focus groups suggests that adolescent African American and Hispanic males are willing to receive the HPV vaccine after healthcare provider counseling. Preliminary data also demonstrate that African American caregivers are less likely to provide consent for HPV vaccination, while Hispanic caregivers are more likely to provide consent for HPV vaccination after provider counseling. Provider observations reflect comparable research in that the target populations demonstrate limited knowledge regarding HPV, the HPV vaccine, and HPV related diseases which serves as an obstacle to vaccine acceptability. Study results will be used to identify provider practices that can be used to develop interventions to improve HPV vaccine acceptability in these male populations.