Arab American Mothers' HPV Vaccination Knowledge and Beliefs

Little is known of Arab Americans' human papilloma virus vaccination (HPVV) behaviors. We explored associations between US Arab immigrant mothers' beliefs regarding HPVV for their children with socioeconomic, medical, and religious/cultural factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in New York City (August 2019-April 2021) with 162 Arab American immigrant women who had at least one child aged 9 through 26 years. Among those reporting that their child/children had not received the HPVV (63.5%), reasons included not having heard of it (67.3%) and lack of provider recommendation (59.4%). HPVV awareness and uptake, respectively, were more likely among those with education >= 10 years (p < .001 and p < .001, respectively), with more years in the US (p < .001 and p < .001), and with higher household income (p < .001 and p = .002). Participants with limited English proficiency were less likely to have HPVV awareness and uptake (p < .001 and p < .001). Christian religious affiliation was positively associated with HPVV awareness and uptake (p = .014 and p = .048). A greater number of years in the US was significantly associated with willingness to vaccinate if recommended by the doctor (p = .031). In open-ended responses, mothers indicated that they did not receive strong provider HPVV recommendations, potentially because of their providers' perceptions of their cultural backgrounds. Mothers indicated a desire for HPVV educational materials in Arabic to help them with decision making. Potential opportunities to augment HPVV uptake among Arab immigrants' children include increasing population knowledge, increasing provider recommendation, and providing culturally/religiously responsive HPVV education in English and Arabic.

Automated summary

Little is known about the human papilloma virus vaccination (HPVV) behavior among Arab American immigrants. This study explores the associations between beliefs of Arab immigrant mothers in the US regarding HPVV for their children and factors such as socioeconomic status, medical factors, and religious/cultural factors. The results show that education level, length of time in the US, and household income are positively associated with HPVV awareness and uptake. Limited English proficiency, on the other hand, is negatively associated with HPVV awareness and uptake. The study highlights the importance of increasing population knowledge, provider recommendation, and culturally/religiously responsive HPVV education to improve vaccination rates among Arab immigrants' children.