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Male Undergraduates’ HPV Vaccination Behavior: Implications for Achieving HPV-Associated Cancer Equity

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Abstract

Despite the availability of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for males, uptake of the vaccine has been low, particularly among young adult males. This study aimed to investigate the levels of HPV vaccination and predictors of HPV vaccine completion in college men ages 18–26. We analyzed data from the 2015 College Student Health Survey, which was administered at 17 post-secondary institutions in Midwest areas. We included only responses from male participants who were ages 18–26 years old, resulting in a sample size of 2516. We used Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization to guide our study design. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine predictors of HPV vaccine receipt. College-aged males in our sample had a HPV vaccine completion rate of 50.0%. Male students who were younger, had at least one parent who held a graduate degree, had initiated sex, and were enrolled at a private 4-year institution were more likely to have been vaccinated. These findings suggest that HPV vaccination in college-aged men are low. Efforts are needed to increase HPV vaccination in male students who are older, from lower socioeconomic statuses, have not initiated sex, and enrolled at public institutions. Findings also indicate important gender disparities in vaccine uptake that must be addressed in order to achieve optimal vaccine uptake in college-aged males.

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Acknowledgements

The study was funded by the endowed fund from the University of Alabama School of Social Work.

Data Availability

The data used for this study is available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, The University of Alabama, 1022 Little Hall, Box 870314, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Hee Yun Lee

  2. School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Katherine Lust

  3. Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Suzanne Vang

  4. HealthPartners Institute, Bloomington, MN, USA

    Jay Desai

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Contributions

HYL planned, conceptualized, and supervised the study. She wrote the introduction and discussion sections, and reviewed and edited the manuscript. KL performed entire statistical analysis and wrote method and finding sections. She reviewed and revised the manuscript. SV conducted literature review, wrote introduction and discussion sections, and edited the manuscript. JD revised discussion, wrote conclusion, and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hee Yun Lee.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board approved the study. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lee, H.Y., Lust, K., Vang, S. et al. Male Undergraduates’ HPV Vaccination Behavior: Implications for Achieving HPV-Associated Cancer Equity. J Community Health 43, 459–466 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0482-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0482-4

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