Young Deaf Adults’ Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Perceived Risk of Vaccine in Preventing Cervical, Anal, Penile, and Oral Cancer

Study Objective: Describe knowledge and risk perception of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) among deaf adults who use American Sign Language (ASL) in comparison to hearing adults in the United States. Design: Secondary HPV knowledge data for the deaf subset sample were drawn from the Health Information National Trends survey in ASL that was administered between 2015 and 2018. HPV knowledge data for the hearing subset sample were drawn from Cycle 5 of the Health Information National Trends survey in English that was administered in 2017. Setting: Surveys are a nationally based survey of deaf ASL users in the United States and a nationally based survey of hearing non-ASL users in the United states. Participants: The age of the deaf and hearing subset samples was determined based on catchup vaccine eligibility criteria as outlined by the CDC that recommends catchup vaccination in women, men who have sex with men, immunocompromised individuals, and those who identify as transgender. Interventions and Main Outcome Measures: We examined HPV, HPV vaccine, and HPV related cancer knowledge in deaf and hearing subsets. Results: Our sample consisted of 235 deaf and 115 hearing adults aged 18-26. Of the deaf participants 58% reported knowledge of HPV compared to 84% of hearing participants (p<0.001). Hearing participants demonstrated higher accuracy in risk perception of HPV relation to cervical cancer as compared to deaf participants (p< 0.001). Hearing participants were more likely to have heard of the HPV vaccine as well as believe it is successful in preventing cervical cancer as compared to deaf participants. (p< 0.001). Conclusion: Deaf ASL users are less likely to have knowledge of HPV, virus related cancer risk, and preventative vaccination as compared to hearing peers.