Behavioral correlates of HPV vaccine acceptability in the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS)

The development of a prophylactic vaccine to prevent infection with oncogenic subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) is an important step in reducing cervical cancer incidence and mortality. However, national data indicate that only 37% of 13- to 17-year-old females have initiated the vaccine series. Prior studies have examined demographic, medical history, and psychosocial variables associated with parental HPV vaccine acceptability, although few have investigated the behavioral correlates of vaccine acceptability. The primary purpose of the current study is to report on national acceptability of the HPV vaccine among U.S. adults with female children in the household and to investigate the health behavior correlates of vaccine acceptability. Data were drawn from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). The study sample comprised 1,383 adults who reported having a female child under the age of 18 in their household (52% female, 59% white; mean age = 40 years). More than half (58%) reported they would have a daughter get the HPV vaccine, 25% were not sure, and 18% would not have a daughter vaccinated. Behavioral factors significantly associated with lower acceptance of the HPV vaccine included lack of physical activity in the past month (P = 0.002), past year use of complementary or alternative therapies (P = 0.021), and no history of smoking (P = 0.005). These results suggest that behavioral health factors may be associated with vaccine acceptability and further our understanding of how behavioral patterns may contribute to the uptake of new cancer prevention strategies.