Abstract
Awareness and uptake of the meningitis vaccine remains low among marginalized groups, such as Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM), potentially due to structural and psychosocial barriers in accessing preventative healthcare. The current study explored awareness and uptake of meningitis vaccines among a group of LMSM (N = 99) living in South Florida. A three-pronged variable selection approach was utilized prior to conducting regression models (linear and logistic). Overall, 48.5% of the participants reported little to no knowledge about meningitis vaccines, and 20.2% reported being vaccinated. Living with HIV (OR = 10.48) and time since outbreak (OR = 1.03) were significant predictors of meningitis vaccine uptake. No significant correlates of meningitis vaccine awareness were identified. More research is needed to identify other important factors associated with meningitis vaccine awareness and uptake among LMSM, a multiple marginalized group.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request (e.g., methodologically sound proposal and signed data use agreement) to the corresponding author (A.H.), following publication.
Notes
This variable was added based on feedback from a reviewer, therefore it was only included in the SSVS and prior literature models.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Daniel Feaster and the REACH Equity Team Community Advisory Board for their assistance with this project. In addition, we are appreciative of every participant in the study and the many community members and partners who shared information about the study to prospective participants.
Funding
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23MD015690 (PI: Harkness) and the National Institute of Mental Health under Award Number P30MH116867 (PI: Safren) and P30MH133399 (PI: Safren). Some author time is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R36DA058563-01 (PI: Weinstein). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Conceptualization (E.W., Y.O.C., A.H.), data curation (A.H., D.M.), formal analysis (E.W., Y.O.C., A.H.), funding acquisition (A.H., R.S., E.W.), investigation (D.M., A.H.), methodology (A.H., E.W., D.M.), project administration (A.H., D.M.), writing—original draft (E.W., Y.O.C., A.H.), writing— review and editing (E.W., Y.O.C., D.M., R.S., A.H.).
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Weinstein, E.R., Chen, Y.O., Maya, D. et al. Factors associated with meningitis vaccine awareness and engagement among Latino men who have sex with men in South Florida. J Behav Med 47, 446–457 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-024-00486-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-024-00486-2