Human papillomavirus awareness among foreign- and US-born Hispanics, United States, 2017-2018

Human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine knowledge and awareness are known to be lower among Hispanics compared to non-Hispanic whites. However, Hispanics in the US are a non-homogenous population, with significant differences by nativity, particularly between the US-and foreign-born individuals. We examined HPV and HPV vaccine awareness among foreign-born Hispanics, US-born Hispanics, and US-born non-Hispanic whites.

We analyzed data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 5, cycles 1 (2017) and 2 (2018), the most recent HINTS datasets including nativity information. We used descriptive statistics and multivariable regression to compare awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine among ethnicity/nativity subgroups.

Over 50% of foreign-born Hispanics had not heard of HPV, compared to 32% of US-born Hispanics (P < 0.01) and 33% of non-Hispanic whites (p < 0.01). Lack of HPV vaccine awareness among foreign-born Hispanics was not significantly different from US-born Hispanics (52% vs. 44%, p = 0.12), but was significantly lower compared to non-Hispanic whites (52% vs. 32%, p < 0.01). In multivariable analyses, non-Hispanic whites had over twice the odds of having heard of HPV than foreign-born Hispanics (p < 0.05), while US-born Hispanics had 75% higher odds (p < 0.05). Regarding HPV awareness, non-Hispanic whites had 95% higher odds of having heard of the HPV vaccine than foreign-born Hispanics (p < 0.05), while differences between US and foreign-born Hispanics were not significant.

There are significant nativity-related differences in HPV and HPV vaccine awareness and knowledge among US-born Hispanics. Over 50% of foreign-born Hispanic adults are unaware of HPV and the HPV vaccine.