Behavioral interventions to increase HPV vaccination acceptability among mothers of young girls

Abstract

Objective: To determine the most effective ways to present human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine risk and benefit information to mothers in Hispanic, African American, and White communities, to increase mothers' intentions to vaccinate their daughters against HPV.

Design: The study used a 3 x 2 between-subjects factorial design, involving 3 different risk presentation formats (graphical HPV statistics, nongraphical HPV statistics, or no-statistics control) and the presence or absence of rhetorical questions (RQ). Data were collected from a national sample of 471 mothers of girls ages 11-16.

Main outcome variables: The primary outcome variable was mothers' intention to vaccinate their daughters against HPV. Secondary outcomes included mothers' self-reported message comprehension and perceptions of daughters' vulnerability to HPV infection, infection severity, vaccine efficacy, and obstacles to immunization.

Results and conclusion: Results showed that both risk presentation format and RQs had an overall positive effect on mothers' intention to vaccinate their daughters. However, the interventions appear to be more effective when used separately than when used in combination. Each of these interventions is brief and could easily be implemented by health care providers as well as in patient health communication literature.