142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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303549
Assessing the underlying beliefs and perceptions of ‘Doers' vs. ;Non-doers' regarding getting the HPV vaccine

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Alireza Geshnizjani, PhD, MPH, MS , Community Health Education and Recreation, University of Maine, Farmington, ME
Kristen Jozkowski, PhD , Community Health Promotion, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
Background: HPV is the most common STI in the US; the HPV vaccine is an effective method of primary prevention. The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the underlying beliefs (behavioral beliefs) and circumstances (control beliefs) towards getting the HPV vaccine across women who received the vaccine and those who did not utilizing the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA).

Methods: An RAA-based questionnaire was constructed after an elicitation process consisting of eleven behavioral beliefs and seven control belief measures. The survey was administered to a sample of female college students (n = 608) recruited from a large Midwest university. Two multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) were conducted to compare women who had been vaccinated to those who had not on the underlying determinants.

 Results: The results revealed that women who had been vaccinated differed from those who had not on their assessment of six of the eleven beliefs: cost, side effects, pain, embarrassment, and protection against cervical cancer. In addition, women differed on four of the seven control belief measures: having time, support of their mothers, vaccine being covered by health insurance, and having a healthcare provider that makes them feel comfortable.

Implications: Findings suggest that public health professionals should design interventions that are tailored to changing these specific beliefs and circumstances in order to increase use HPV vaccination. For example, educational interventions that can increase knowledge about side effects, pain, and protection towards cervical cancer as well as policy changes on providing discounted vaccines may be effective.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify differences between women who have had the vaccine and those who have not in terms of behavioral beliefs of the HPV vaccine Identify differences between women who have had the vaccine and those who have not in terms of control beliefs of the HPV vaccine Describe potential interventions to promote HPV vaccination among college females using the RAA as a framework

Keyword(s): Behavioral Research, Cancer Prevention and Screening

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have a PhD in health behavior.
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.

Back to: 3276.0: Health Communication Strategies to Promote Health and Prevent Disease (organized by HCWG)