Trust typologies and HPV awareness in the U.S.: a latent class analysis

Despite longstanding public health efforts, awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine remains suboptimal. Patterns of trust in health information sources may contribute to lack of HPV prevention awareness.

To evaluate the association between trust in cancer information sources and awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine among U.S. adults.

We used nationally representative data from the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 6) and conducted survey-weighted logistic regression analyses. The analytic sample included 5222 adults aged 18 and older with complete data. We modeled two outcomes: (1) awareness of HPV and (2) awareness of the HPV vaccine. The main predictor was a trust typology, derived from a latent class analysis of six binary indicators of trusted cancer information sources, categorizing respondents into low, broad, or secular institutional trust groups.

Compared to the low-trust group, respondents in the secular institutional trust group had significantly higher odds of being aware of HPV (OR = 1.59, 95 % CI: 1.18-2.17) and the HPV vaccine (OR = 1.75, 95 % CI: 1.28-2.41). The broad trust group was also more likely to be aware of HPV (OR = 1.40, 95 % CI: 1.03-1.93), though the association with HPV vaccine awareness was not statistically significant.

Greater trust in secular institutions was more strongly associated with HPV-related awareness. Public health communication strategies should tailor outreach efforts to align with multidimensional trust patterns.