Table 5.
Parental knowledge and attitudes* about HPV vaccination*, by sex and adolescent's HPV vaccination status – National Immunization Survey-Teen, United States, 2013.
| Adolescent Girls |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaccination status** | ≥1 HPV doses |
0 HPV doses; might be vaccinated |
0 HPV doses; will not be vaccinated |
|||||
| n† | Mean (95% CI) | n† | Mean (95% CI) | n† | Mean (95% CI) | p-value†† | ||
| How much do you agree/disagree with the statement that the HPV vaccine is safe? | 4805 | 8.3 (8.1–8.4) | 2834 | 6.6 (6.4–6.8) | 557 | 3.7 (3.3–4.1) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents HPV infection? | 4826 | 8.1 (8.0–8.2) | 2879 | 7.1 (6.9–7.3) | 556 | 5.0 (4.6–5.5) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents genital warts? | 4628 | 6.8 (6.6–7.0) | 2747 | 5.6 (5.4–5.8) | 541 | 4.0 (3.5–4.4) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer? | 4816 | 7.9 (7.8–8.0) | 2877 | 7.0 (6.8–7.1) | 560 | 4.8 (4.4–5.3) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents anal cancer? | 4407 | 5.3 (5.1–5.5) | 2664 | 4.5 (4.3–4.7) | 530 | 3.3 (2.8–3.7) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents cancers of the throat? | 4507 | 4.4 (4.2–4.6) | 2720 | 3.8 (3.6–4.1) | 537 | 2.8 (2.3–3.3) | <0.0001 | |
| … it is more important for girls to get the HPV vaccine than for boys to get it? | 4842 | 5.2 (5.0–5.4) | 2902 | 5.0 (4.8–5.3) | 568 | 3.7 (3.1–4.3) | <0.0001 | |
| Adolescent Boys |
||||||||
| How much do you agree/disagree with the statement that the HPV vaccine is safe? | 3052 | 8.2 (8.0–8.4) | 4846 | 7.1 (6.9–7.2) | 843 | 4.9 (4.5–5.3) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents HPV infection? | 3070 | 8.3 (8.2–8.4) | 4986 | 7.4 (7.3–7.6) | 859 | 5.9 (5.6–6.3) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents genital warts? | 2956 | 7.1 (6.9–7.3) | 4749 | 6.1 (5.9–6.2) | 811 | 4.7 (4.4–5.1) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer? | 3042 | 7.9 (7.8–8.1) | 4940 | 7.0 (6.9–7.2) | 867 | 5.7 (5.3–6.0) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents anal cancer? | 2862 | 6.0 (5.8–6.2) | 4575 | 5.2 (5.0–5.3) | 792 | 3.7 (3.4–4.0) | <0.0001 | |
| … the HPV vaccine prevents cancers of the throat? | 2889 | 5.3 (5.1–5.6) | 4637 | 4.7 (4.5–4.9) | 814 | 2.9 (2.7–3.2) | <0.0001 | |
| … it is more important for girls to get the HPV vaccine than for boys to get it? | 3103 | 4.3 (4.0–4.6) | 5089 | 5.4 (5.2–5.5) | 891 | 5.3 (4.9–5.7) | <0.0001 | |
CI = confidence interval. HPV = human papillomavirus.
Mean scores on a scale of 0–10, where 0 is “strongly disagree” and 10 is “strongly agree,” are presented. Higher scores indicate stronger agreement with the statement.
All respondents were categorized by the documented number of HPV vaccine doses their teen had received and their response to the question “At what age do you plan to have [TEEN] receive the HPV shots?” Parents of unvaccinated teens who responded “never” when asked the age at which their teen would receive HPV vaccine were categorized as “0 HPV doses; will not be vaccinated.” Parents of all other unvaccinated teens were categorized as “0 HPV doses; might be vaccinated.”
The proportion of missing/refused responses ranged from 4.6% to 13.9%. For parents of girls and boys, the item with the lowest proportion of missing responses was “It is more important for girls to get the HPV vaccine than for boys to get it” (4.6% for girls, 4.9% for boys) and the item with the highest proportion of missing responses was “The HPV vaccine prevents anal cancer” (12.7% for girls, 13.9% for boys).
P-value for difference across all 3 vaccination status groups. All between-group comparisons for both sexes are also statistically significant at p < 0.001 with the exception of the item “It is more important for girls to get the HPV vaccine than for boys to get it” (not shown). For this item, the mean score difference between parents of girls who had received at least one HPV dose and parents of girls who were unvaccinated but might be vaccinated in the future was not statistically significant (p = 0.29) and the mean score difference between parents of boys who were unvaccinated but might be vaccinated and parents of boys who were unvaccinated and will not be vaccinated was not statistically significant (p = 0.69).