Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College Students
Objective and Participants: The authors sought an updated examination of attitudes toward Human Papillomavirus (HPV) catch-up vaccination among college students at a private religious university. Methods: A total of 1557 college students completed a 62-question survey of religious and HPV vaccinatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Vaccines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/11/10/1623 |
| _version_ | 1811153775650406400 |
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| author | Hannah Hittson Leah McAleer Lydia Saucedo Lindsay Mahler Gabriel Andino Andie Zorba Sarah Walden Brett E. Pickett Brian D. Poole Erika L. Abel |
| author_facet | Hannah Hittson Leah McAleer Lydia Saucedo Lindsay Mahler Gabriel Andino Andie Zorba Sarah Walden Brett E. Pickett Brian D. Poole Erika L. Abel |
| author_sort | Hannah Hittson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective and Participants: The authors sought an updated examination of attitudes toward Human Papillomavirus (HPV) catch-up vaccination among college students at a private religious university. Methods: A total of 1557 college students completed a 62-question survey of religious and HPV vaccination attitudes during the fall of 2021. Students’ willingness to receive catch-up HPV vaccination and willingness to vaccinate a future child against HPV were recorded. Results: Of the 46.8% of students who reported being unvaccinated or unaware of vaccination status, ~26% reported being uninterested in receiving catch-up HPV vaccination; ~22% of all students surveyed reported being unwilling to vaccinate a future child against HPV. The strongest predictors of vaccine hesitancy included religious concerns about sexual abstinence and safety concerns. Conclusions: College health professionals can increase the rate of HPV vaccination among college students and subsequent future generations by addressing the safety and utility of the vaccine regardless of intentions for sexual abstinence prior to marriage. Additionally, rather than a uniform approach to all students who self-identify as Christian, an effort to identify and discuss the unique religiously influenced beliefs of individual students is recommended when discussing HPV vaccination. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:49:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57f0e8996edf46b9bfb9830e4ad81cc9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-393X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:49:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vaccines |
| spelling | doaj.art-57f0e8996edf46b9bfb9830e4ad81cc92023-11-19T18:25:32ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2023-10-011110162310.3390/vaccines11101623Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College StudentsHannah Hittson0Leah McAleer1Lydia Saucedo2Lindsay Mahler3Gabriel Andino4Andie Zorba5Sarah Walden6Brett E. Pickett7Brian D. Poole8Erika L. Abel9Honors Program, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USAHonors Program, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USAHonors Program, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USAHonors Program, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USAHonors Program, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USAHonors Program, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USABaylor Interdisciplinary Core, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USADepartment of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USADepartment of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USAHonors Program, Honors College, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USAObjective and Participants: The authors sought an updated examination of attitudes toward Human Papillomavirus (HPV) catch-up vaccination among college students at a private religious university. Methods: A total of 1557 college students completed a 62-question survey of religious and HPV vaccination attitudes during the fall of 2021. Students’ willingness to receive catch-up HPV vaccination and willingness to vaccinate a future child against HPV were recorded. Results: Of the 46.8% of students who reported being unvaccinated or unaware of vaccination status, ~26% reported being uninterested in receiving catch-up HPV vaccination; ~22% of all students surveyed reported being unwilling to vaccinate a future child against HPV. The strongest predictors of vaccine hesitancy included religious concerns about sexual abstinence and safety concerns. Conclusions: College health professionals can increase the rate of HPV vaccination among college students and subsequent future generations by addressing the safety and utility of the vaccine regardless of intentions for sexual abstinence prior to marriage. Additionally, rather than a uniform approach to all students who self-identify as Christian, an effort to identify and discuss the unique religiously influenced beliefs of individual students is recommended when discussing HPV vaccination.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/11/10/1623Human PapillomavirusHPV vaccinevaccine hesitancyreligious valuesreligious college students |
| spellingShingle | Hannah Hittson Leah McAleer Lydia Saucedo Lindsay Mahler Gabriel Andino Andie Zorba Sarah Walden Brett E. Pickett Brian D. Poole Erika L. Abel Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College Students Vaccines Human Papillomavirus HPV vaccine vaccine hesitancy religious values religious college students |
| title | Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College Students |
| title_full | Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College Students |
| title_fullStr | Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College Students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College Students |
| title_short | Association between Religious Beliefs and HPV Vaccination Attitudes among College Students |
| title_sort | association between religious beliefs and hpv vaccination attitudes among college students |
| topic | Human Papillomavirus HPV vaccine vaccine hesitancy religious values religious college students |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/11/10/1623 |
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