Examining the Influence of Patient-Centered Communication in Promoting HPV Vaccine Acceptability Among U.S. Adults

Abstract

Despite almost two decades since its launch, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage remains suboptimal among a large proportion of adolescents and young adults in the U.S. Even though the HPV vaccine’s safety has been scientifically established, the public is somewhat hesitant towards the HPV vaccine. Experts have time and again presented patient-centered communication as an effective way to promote HPV vaccine acceptability. As health decision makers for themselves and their children, adults often seek collaborative, bidirectional communication with their providers. Patient-centered communication has recurrently emerged as an effective way to foster patient-provider relationships, especially in the context of vaccine decision making. Building on this understanding, we conducted a systematic literature review to examine the relationship between patient-centered communication and HPV vaccine acceptability among adults. We found that patient-centered communication encourages positive HPV vaccine attitudes among both patients and providers. However, given the evident dearth in literature, we urge prospective researchers to delve further into investigating the best patient-centered practices to promote acceptability towards the HPV vaccine. Our second study examines the socio-demographic indicators influencing the relationship between patient-centered communication, HPV knowledge and HPV vaccine acceptability. As hypothesized, we found predominant socio-demographic disparities pertaining patient-centered communication, HPV knowledge and HPV vaccine acceptability. We also found direct associations between patient-centered communication and HPV vaccine acceptability, and HPV knowledge and HPV vaccine acceptability. Our third study examines the health-related and health system indicators influencing the relationship between patient-centered communication, HPV knowledge and HPV vaccine acceptability among U.S. adults. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found only a limited number of health-related and health-system factors directly related to the three components in our study. However, we observed multiple indirect pathways linking health-related and health-system factors to the three study constructs.