Attitudes toward HPV Vaccination among Women Aged 27 to 45

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify attitudes toward HPV vaccination among US women 27 to 45 years of age. A survey was mailed to 2,750 insured US women to assess perceptions of relevance or irrelevance of the HPV vaccine, the underlying reasons, and, for those reporting relevance, the likelihood of vaccination if it became available. Among the 451 eligible respondents, 304 (67.4%) reported that the HPV vaccine was relevant to them, whereas 143 (31.7%) stated that it was not at all relevant. The most common reasons for relevance were protection from cervical cancer (62.8%), vaginal cancer (58.2%), precancerous cells (55.9%), HPV (55.6%), and genital warts (46.4%). Reasons for irrelevance were most commonly being married (54.0%) or in a monogamous relationship (39.6%). Most respondents reporting relevance of the HPV vaccine were likely (33.4%) or extremely likely (37.7%) to receive the vaccine if approved for their age group.