Medicina Comunitária e Educação em Saúde

Abstrato

Predictors of HPV Vaccine in College Men

Purvi Mehta and Manoj Sharma

Objective: Humanpapilloma virus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI), leading to cervical and anal cancers. Annually, 6.2 million people are newly diagnosed with HPV and 20 million are currently diagnosed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 51.1% of men carry multiple strains of HPV. Recently, HPV vaccine was approved for use in boys and young men to help reduce the number of HPV cases. The purpose of this study was to use health belief model (HBM) to predict acceptance of HPV vaccine in college men between the ages of 18-24 years.

Design: Cross sectional design.

Method: Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action and self-efficacy from the health belief model were assessed in determining whether men would take the vaccine. A panel of six experts helped in establishing the face and content validity of the instrument. Internal consistency, test retest reliability, and construct validity were tested and found to be acceptable. Multiple regression modeling was done to ascertain relationships between HBM predictors and acceptability of the vaccine in men.

Results: Self-efficacy, cues to action, and perceived susceptibility were significant predictors for taking the HPV vaccine (adjusted R 2 = 0.480).

Conclusion: HBM is a robust model to predict HPV vaccine acceptability in college men. Health education interventions can be designed based on HBM to enhance acceptability of HPV vaccine in college men. Recommendations for future research are discussed.