The impact of ethnicity on awareness and knowledge of and attitudes towards the human papillomavirus and vaccine among adult women.

Objective: To determine whether ethnicity affects awareness, knowledge, and attitudes regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine.
Methods: English speaking women (n = 172) aged 18 and older were recruited from an outpatient gynaecology clinic to complete a self-administered cross-sectional questionnaire that gathered information about (1) virus awareness and knowledge, (2) vaccine awareness and knowledge, (3) attitudes towards the vaccine and (4) participant demographics. Subjects received a virus knowledge score (0 to 6), a vaccine knowledge score (0 to 10) and an attitudes score (8 to 40), with a higher score indicating more positive attitudes towards the vaccine.
Results: Virus and vaccine awareness was significantly higher in Caucasian respondents than in non-Caucasian respondents: 93% versus 69% (P < 0.001) and 94% versus 64%, (P < 0.001), respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression model, the Caucasian ethnic group, higher education status, and greater number of years in Canada each emerged as independent predictors of vaccine awareness. Both virus and vaccine knowledge scores were significantly higher in Caucasian than non-Caucasian women: 4.6 versus 3.89 (P = 0.001) and 7.2 versus 6.4, (P = 0.042), respectively. Caucasian women had significantly higher (more positive) attitudes towards the vaccine than non-Caucasians (31.4 vs. 29.2, P = 0.021). Higher HPV vaccine knowledge was positively associated with an interest in vaccination (r(2) = 0.26, P < 0.01) and a more positive vaccine attitudes score (r(2) = 0.40, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Virus and vaccine awareness were both higher in Caucasian women than in non-Caucasian women. Improving HPV vaccination knowledge has the potential to improve attitudes and vaccine uptake.