142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

296474
HPV vaccination barriers among Korean Americans in Southern California

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Armando Valdez, PhD , HealthPoint Communications Institute, Mountain View, CA
Chi-Ah Chun, PhD , Department of Psychology, California State University-Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Soni Kim, Psy.D , Crossroads Institute, Long Beach,, CA
Background. Korean-Americans have notably high HPV infection rates and one of the nation's highest cervical cancer mortality rates. The HPV vaccine offers an opportunity to reduce this health disparity, yet Korean Americans have a low HPV vaccination rate.

 Significance. The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate an intervention to educate and empower parents to make informed decisions regarding HPV vaccination of their children. This intervention can significantly improve cancer prevention and reduce health disparities among Korean Americans. 

 Objectives. Specific study aims were to (1) identify barriers to HPV vaccination reported by Korean-American parents, (2) develop a culturally-tailored, language appropriate intervention to inform parents’ HPV vaccination decisions, and (3) conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the intervention’s efficacy. This abstract addresses the first aim of the study.

 Methods. This study conducted six language-congruent (English/Korean) focus groups with 41 Korean-American parents of HPV-unvaccinated children ages 11-17 in Koreatown-Los Angeles and two neighboring communities with sizeable Korean American populations. These sessions explored parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding HPV, cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine, identified their questions and concerns, and documented their information sources regarding the HPV vaccine.

Results. Parents demonstrated a substantial lack of knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer, compounded by the notable absence of perceived risk and perceived susceptibility to HPV infection and cervical cancer. Parents’ understanding of the HPV vaccine was marginal and vague. Most did not know HPV is sexually transmitted. Providers often gave parents incorrect information regarding the appropriate age and gender for vaccination. Cultural and religious values converged to promote a perception that Korean-Americans children would not have sex until after marriage and thus were not at risk for HPV infections.

Conclusion. Low knowledge levels and low perceived risk and susceptibility to an HPV infection were significant barriers to HPV vaccination.

Learning Areas:

Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control

Learning Objectives:
Describe salient attitudes and concerns of Korean American parents regarding HPV vaccination of their children. Discuss the level of awareness of the association between HPV infection and cervical cancer among Korean American parents. Identify the level of risk and severity posed by an HPV infection as perceived by Korean American parents. Describe Korean American parents’ knowledge about the recommended age, dosage, gender and costs for HPV vaccination. Describe differences in knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about the HPV vaccine among Korean American parents residing in LA Koreatown compared to their suburban counterparts.

Keyword(s): Asian Americans, Children and Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a behavioral scientist and health communication expert specializing in health promotion interventions to reduce racial/ethnic health disparities. I also am the Principal Investigator for the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.