Health-related social media engagement and cervical cancer prevention: associations with HPV knowledge, vaccine awareness, and pap smear utilization among US women.

BACKGROUND

Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer, a largely preventable disease through HPV vaccination and Pap smear screening. However, gaps remain in HPV knowledge, vaccine awareness, and screening utilization among women in the US. Social media has become a common source of health information and may influence preventive health behaviors, yet evidence linking health-related social media engagement to HPV-related outcomes is limited.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 6, a nationally representative survey of US adults. The analytic sample included 2,247 women aged 21-65 years. Ordered logistic regression was used to examine HPV knowledge, while logistic regression models assessed HPV vaccine awareness and Pap smear utilization, adjusting for sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and health-related covariates.

RESULTS

Women who engaged with health-related content on social media had higher odds of greater HPV knowledge (OR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.43-2.13) and HPV vaccine awareness (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.25-2.05). Health-related social media engagement was also associated with increased Pap smear utilization (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.00-1.59). Increasing levels of health-related social media engagement showed significant linear dose-response associations with HPV knowledge, HPV vaccine awareness, and Pap smear utilization among US women.

CONCLUSION

These findings highlight the potential of social media-based interventions to support cervical cancer prevention efforts, while underscoring the need for culturally tailored strategies to reduce persistent disparities across racial and ethnic groups.