Deaf Young Adults' Knowledge of HPV

Previous studies have documented that members of the Deaf community are at risk for low health literacy, which contributes to poor health status. Spellun et al. sought to discover if this was true for HPV knowledge among Deaf young adults. They conducted a secondary analysis of data collected in the Health Information National Trends survey that was administered in ASL and compared the results to that of the same survey administered to hearing young adults. The 235 Deaf respondents were significantly less likely to have heard of HPV (58% vs. 84%), to know that HPV can cause cervical cancer (46.7% vs. 77.9%), to have heard of the HPV vaccine (65.2% vs. 85.6%), and to believe that the HPV vaccine can prevent cervical cancer (31.9% vs. 49.0%). They conclude by recommending more culturally appropriate education about HPV, targeting healthcare providers and young Deaf adults and their family members.



Paywalled
Spellun, A.H., Moreland, C.J. & Kushalnagar, P, (2019). Young Deaf Adults' Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Perceived Risk of Vaccine in Preventing Cervical, Anal, Penile, and Oral Cancer. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2018.11.013.

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