Human papillomavirus vaccine knowledge, health beliefs, recommendation receipt, and intentions among Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino sexual and gender minority young adults assigned male at birth in Florida and Puerto Rico: results of a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES

Despite an effective human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, uptake among sexual and gender minority (SGM) young adults remains suboptimal, including among Hispanic/Latino SGM. This study aimed to describe awareness/knowledge, health beliefs, attitudes, clinician recommendation receipt, and HPV vaccine intentions among unvaccinated Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino SGM young adults assigned male at birth in Florida and Puerto Rico.

DESIGN

Participants completed a cross-sectional online survey between August 2021 and August 2022. Eligibility criteria included being 18-26 years old, male sex assigned at birth, identifying as Hispanic/Latino, identifying as gay, bisexual, or queer, speaking Spanish, living in Florida or Puerto Rico, and having access to the internet. Survey items assessed previous healthcare experiences, HPV vaccine awareness, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, discussions, clinician recommendation receipt, and vaccine intentions. Descriptive analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Among the 102 unvaccinated participants, all (100%) identified as gay and/or bisexual. Most participants self-reported male gender (96%), being of Puerto Rican descent (92%), and living in Puerto Rico (86%). Only 18.6% of participants reported having received a clinician recommendation for the HPV vaccine. HPV vaccine knowledge was low (Mean=3.2; Standard Deviation [SD] = 2.6; Range: 0-9), attitudes were neutral (Mean=2.5; SD = 0.7; range=1.0-4.3), and perceived barriers were moderate (Mean=2.4; SD = 1.0; range=1.0-4.7). Approximately 35% reported being very likely to seek additional HPV vaccination information in the next year. Approximately one-in-nine (11.8%) reported being very likely to receive the HPV vaccine in the next year, whereas approximately one-third (30.4%) reported being very likely to receive the vaccine at some point in the future.

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest potential modifiable and multilevel targets for future interventions to promote HPV vaccination among Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino SGM young adults assigned male at birth. Such multilevel interventions could address specific knowledge gaps, beliefs, and attitudes among patients and promote clinician recommendations in order to improve HPV vaccination rates among Hispanic/Latino SGM young adults.