Maternal Support for Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Honduras

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death for women in Latin America, and vaccinating against human papillomavirus (HPV) has the potential to limit this disease. We sought to determine Honduran women's awareness of HPV vaccination and interest in vaccinating their daughters against HPV. Methods: We interviewed mothers aged !17 at primary care clinics in Honduras. First, we collected demographic information and assessed knowledge related to cervical cancer prevention and awareness of HPV and HPV vaccination. Because most participants were not familiar with HPV, education about the relationships among HPV, sexual activity, and cervical cancer was provided before we asked participants if they would accept HPV vaccination for a 9-year-old daughter. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine predictors of vaccine acceptance. Results: We interviewed 632 mothers. Only 13% had heard of HPV vaccination before the interview. After education, 91% would accept HPV vaccination for a 9-year-old daughter. Mothers who intended to vaccinate knew more at baseline about cervical cancer prevention than did those who did not endorse vaccination. Demographic characteristics did not predict vaccine acceptance. Conclusions: Few Honduran mothers were aware of HPV or HPV vaccination. However, most Honduran mothers would accept HPV vaccination for their daughters after receiving education about the relationship between HPV infection and cervical cancer. Baseline cervical cancer knowledge was associated with vaccine acceptance.

Fathers’ intentions to accept human papillomavirus vaccination for sons and daughters: exploratory findings from rural Honduras

“…Nevertheless, 94% of fathers surveyed would accept HPV vaccination for their daughters and 100% for their sons given basic information about the vaccine and cervical cancer prevention. This acceptance rate is comparable to that previously described in Honduran mothers from the same population (Perkins et al 2010a) and is comparable to the acceptance rates found in other studies of mothers in Latin America and female Latina immigrants in the US (Bair et al 2008;LazcanoPonce et al 2001;Lee et al 2010;Perkins et al 2010b;Podolsky et al 2009;Watts et al 2009). However, the acceptance rate in this study of Honduran fathers was higher than the rates noted in other studies of parental acceptance with primarily Caucasian populations in North America and Europe (Zimet et al 2006).…”

“…Structured interviews contained four sections: section 1 consisted of forcedchoice questions soliciting demographic information which prior studies indicated might influence HPV vaccine acceptability such as age, education, literacy, marital status, number of children, and sexual history (Zimet et al 2006). Section 2 assessed baseline knowledge about cervical cancer and HPV using our previously validated survey (Perkins et al 2007(Perkins et al , 2010a. We specifically explored participants' understanding of the purpose of the Pap test, causes of cervical cancer, means of preventing cervical cancer, and familiarity with HPV and HPV vaccination.…”

Social Networks Influence Hispanic College Women's HPV Vaccine Uptake Decision-Making Processes

“…Clearly, future efforts to address Hispanic college women’s HPV vaccination uptake must seek to increase their mothers’ knowledge and validate their roles in providing health information to their daughters. This new knowledge could, in turn, influence Hispanic mothers’ endorsement, according to prior research (Moraros et al, 2006; Perkins et al, 2011)…”

“…This supports prior research on sexual health that shows Hispanic mothers’ messages about HPV significantly influence adolescent women’s HPV vaccine uptake decision-making processes (Sanderson et al, 2009). Researchers have found that mothers who support the HPV vaccine have a direct influence on whether or not their adolescent and young adult daughters get vaccinated; this is particularly true among those mothers who are routinely tested for HPV and among those who have or have had HPV (Moraros et al, 2006; Perkins et al, 2011). For example, Sanderson et al (2009) found that Hispanic mothers who were HPV-positive reported that they would have their late adolescent daughters vaccinated even if they had to pay for the vaccine themselves, and they were in favor of laws that require girls to receive the HPV vaccine before entry into the sixth grade.…”

Human Papillomavirus Awareness in Haiti: Preparing for a National HPV Vaccination Program

“…9 High acceptability of HPV vaccine has been previously demonstrated across Latin American and Caribbean countries. 22–25 …”