Abstract D029: What do veterans ages 27 years and older know and think about the HPV vaccine?
Authors: Wigfall Lisa T , Ramirez Susana , Molina Yamile , Palmer Nynikka , Roncancio Angelica M , Morales-Campos Daisy Y 
Published: September 2020

Objective. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine HPV-related awareness, knowledge, beliefs, and risk factors among Veterans ages 27 years and older. Methods. We used data from a subsample of 167 Veterans who responded to the 2017 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to conduct this cross-sectional study. HPV vaccine awareness and beliefs were our primary outcomes of interest. HPV-related cancer risk factors (i.e., cigarette smoking, socioeconomic status) were our secondary outcomes of interest. HPV awareness and knowledge were also examined. Proportions with 95% confidence intervals were performed using Stata/SE version 15.1 (College Station, TX, USA). Results. All of the Veterans who responded to the 2017 HINTS were ages 27 years or older. Most were non-Hispanic White (80%, 73-88%); heterosexual, or straight (97%, 94-99%); male sex (89%, 85-94%); and had an annual household income greater than $50,000 (67%, 57-78%). While almost half had smoked combustible cigarettes in past (49%, 39-60%) and some (15%, 7-24%) still smoked combustible cigarettes, the majority had never (&lt;1-2 lifetime) smoked electronic cigarettes (82%, 73-91%). About half had heard of the HPV vaccine (52%, 40-64%), of which most were ambivalent about whether or not the HPV vaccine was effective at preventing cervical cancer (72%, 61-84%). Although 63% (52-74%) had heard of HPV, mean HPV knowledge scores (2.0±0.3) were low (range: 0-6). Conclusions. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the HPV vaccine for use among adults ages 27-45 years, little is known about what adults ages 27 years and older in the general population know and think about the HPV vaccine. Even more concerning is the fact that almost twice as many of the Civilians (N=1,341) who completed the 2017 HINTS had never (&lt;100 lifetime) smoked combustible cigarettes (61%, 56-66%). Similarly, among the 1,341 Civilians who completed the 2017 HINTS were more aware of HPV (76%, 72-80%) and the HPV vaccine (73%, 69-77%); had higher HPV knowledge scores (2.6±0.01); and were less ambivalent about whether or not the HPV vaccine was effective at preventing cervical cancer (62%, 59-66%). Increasing HPV-related awareness and knowledge, promoting positive beliefs about the HPV vaccine, and reducing modifiable HPV-related cancer risk factors (i.e., cigarette smoking) will be necessary first steps to increasing HPV vaccination among Veterans ages 27 years when/if clinical practice guidelines change in the future as a result of the FDA approval for HPV vaccine use among adults ages 27-45 years.

Citation Format: Lisa T Wigfall, Susana Ramirez, Yamile Molina, Nynikka Palmer, Angelica M Roncancio, Daisy Y Morales-Campos. What do veterans ages 27 years and older know and think about the HPV vaccine? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D029.