A descriptive pilot research study was conducted in rural counties of Henry and Glades Florida to explore HPV vaccine hesitancy and acceptance.This was the first step in what would become a project that would catalyze collaborations and connect results to other global efforts to reduce HPV related cancers.
Methods:
Participants included parents/caregivers with children between the ages of 9 to 13 years of age who resided in rural areas of the United States. Using quantitative methods we evaluated the level of parental knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of HPV vaccination, the prevalence of HPV vaccination in the participant groups and correlates of HPV Vaccination among participant groups. Our measures included the Parental HPV Survey which has a Cronbach alpha of .96.
Results:
Results focused on hesitancy revealed that parents who encountered other parents who would not vaccinate stated that only 26% of parents believed hesitancy was due to stigma about the vaccine. Our participants attributed any stigma about the HPV vaccine was a result of low levels HPV vaccine knowledge, 80% and a persistent belief that HPV vaccination could leave their child sterile, 8%. Surprisingly, lack of secondary education (high school education or less) 64% or conservative religious affiliation 74% were not correlated with vaccine hesitancy, parents in both groups were completing the HPV vaccine series.
Conclusion:
These results are striking considering other research results published since the HPV vaccine was approved and made over a decade ago. Numerous interventions to increase HPV vaccination have been studied along with strong recommendations for education of providers. These data identify opportunities for future research and identify intervention points to increase HPV vaccination and improve the future health of rural children. Most importantly data may help us identify factors contributing to hesitation in rural areas and then catalyze collaborations in rural communities. The model resulting from this pilot has implications for replication internationally.