Abstract B04: Communication about HPV: Shared knowledge and HPV vaccine uptake among parents and adolescents in rural eastern North Carolina
Authors: Torres Essie , Richman Alice , Wu Qiang 
Published: February 2019

Introduction: Although vaccination against cancer is a significant breakthrough, uptake is low. HPV-vaccination rates among girls, ages 13-17, are less than ideal; nationwide, only 63% initiated and only 42% completed the 3-shot series in 2015. These rates are significantly lower among girls who are ethnic minorities, live in poverty, and live in rural areas. The initiation rate in rural North Carolina (NC) counties (17%) is half that for the state as a whole (66%), and is even lower (11%) in the few eastern NC counties studied to date. This study presents data that examine HPV knowledge among parents and their children, and if higher knowledge concordance rates influenced greater HPV uptake among adolescents.

Methods: The study was conducted in two rural clinics in eastern North Carolina. Study participants included female and male English- and Spanish-speaking parents and their children (ages 9-17), who were uninsured or Medicaid-insured. Data from this study is from a larger study that assessed if electronic reminders increased HPV vaccine series completion among adolescents and HPV knowledge among parents of adolescents in eastern North Carolina. Parents and their adolescent child completed a baseline survey that was administered during enrollment after the child received the first HPV dose and it assessed their HPV knowledge, and factors that might influence HPV vaccination uptake. Shot records were obtained for all adolescent participants throughout the 2-year study. The final sample included 257 parent-child dyads.

Results: Mean parental and child age was 38 and 12, respectively. Most identified as Black (60%) or Hispanic (28%), followed by White (10%). Completion rates for intervention and control groups were similar for HPV dose 2 (65% vs. 65%) and HPV dose 3 (35% vs. 30%), respectively. Those who reported provider recommendation of the vaccine were 1.8 times more likely to complete the series. In addition to doctor recommendation, we found that parents who thought that HPV can cause cancer in women were more likely to complete the 3-dose series. Parent knowledge about the relationship between HPV and cancer in women was low for this sample at baseline. Similarly, parents whose main reason for getting their child a HPV vaccine was to protect their child from HPV were more likely to complete the second dose of the vaccine. Up-to-date results will be reported during the presentation.

Conclusion: This finding lends itself to the need for education among parents about the relationship of HPV and cancer. These results have implications for selecting communication strategies to reduce HPV-related health disparities.

Citation Format: Essie Torres, Alice Richman, Qiang Wu. Communication about HPV: Shared knowledge and HPV vaccine uptake among parents and adolescents in rural eastern North Carolina [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr B04.