Formative Research On HPV Vaccine Use Among African American Adolescent Girls: Qualitative Findings

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: African American women have higher rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality than white women.  Since 2006 the FDA has approved two vaccines developed to prevent cervical cancer caused by the high-risk types of genital HPV known to cause 70% of cervical cancers.  The vaccine is available for free to adolescents ages 11-18 through the federal Vaccines for Children program.  According to the National Immunization Survey, rates of HPV vaccine initiation are similar for African American and white girls, but completion of the required three doses is lower for African American girls.  We have posed a series of formative research questions to develop a social marketing intervention to increase HPV vaccine use among African American girls.

Methods:  The study follows the Community-Based Prevention Marketing model (Bryant et al., 2007), which combines social marketing with community-based participatory research, in collaboration with a Community Advisory Board.  As part of the formative research phase, we are gathering qualitative data from focus groups and individual interviews with members of the target population (African American girls ages 11-18 and their parents/caregivers; N=70). The sample is divided into four market segments within the target population based on vaccine status and intent to vaccinate.

Results:  This presentation will report on findings from the focus groups and individual interviews with African American parents and teenage girls regarding their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to HPV vaccine use.  We report on differences and similarities across market segments.

Conclusions:  These findings will guide development of a social marketing intervention aimed to increase uptake and completion of the HPV vaccine series among African American girls.

Implications for research and/or practice:  Widespread HPV vaccination among African American girls, in combination with continued Pap testing, can eventually reduce racial disparities in cervical cancer.