HPV Vaccine Hesitancy in Rural America and Exploring Artificial-Intelligence Interventions

This study illuminates human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine hesitancy in rural America and explores the potential of using chatbot-enabled social media interventions. The results from our nationally representative survey among US parents of adolescents (n = 1,196) show the differences in HPV vaccine uptake between rural, suburban, and urban areas. Our results indicate that rural parents' hesitancy in initializing or continuing the HPV vaccine regimen with their children appears to be a result of a lack of knowledge about the necessity, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine. Chatbots with natural language processing abilities are proposed to educate rural parents about the preventive benefits of HPV vaccines and alleviate their hesitancy. With the increasing broadband Internet connectivity in rural communities, chatbots can create effective and economical interventions. The opportunities created by chatbots, their integration into the existing clinical workflow for vaccine deliveries, and their benefits to healthcare providers are discussed.