NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Strong cultural beliefs and limited awareness may lead mothers from certain ethnic groups to choose not to have their daughters vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus responsible for most cases of cervical cancer, according to a study conducted in the UK.
This would be unfortunate, the researchers conclude, as the vaccine, which is offered in the UK to girls aged 12 to 13, is expected to significantly reduce cervical cancer cases.
Dr. Laura Marlow from University College London and colleagues questioned 750 women of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, African and Chinese ethnic backgrounds and 200 white British women about their knowledge of HPV and their attitudes about HPV vaccination.
Only between 6 percent and 18 percent of the ethnic minority women surveyed had ever heard of HPV, compared with nearly 39 percent of the white British women.
In a subgroup of 601 women who had daughters, 38 percent, overall, indicated that they accepted the HPV vaccine, whereas 62 percent did not.
Acceptability of the HPV vaccine varied by ethnic group. It was most accepted by white women (63 percent), followed by African (51 percent), Caribbean (49 percent) and Chinese (40 percent) women.
HPV vaccine acceptance was lowest among Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani women, at 25 percent, 18 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Women with non-Christian beliefs were also less accepting of the HPV vaccine.
These findings, Marlow noted in an email to Reuters Health, suggest that "ethnicity and religion are important predictors of HPV vaccine acceptability in the UK and these effects do not seem to be explained by acculturation" (i.e., adopting UK ways).
It didn't matter whether the women and their parents had been born in the UK or overseas, nor whether they were recent immigrants, nor whether English was spoken at home, Marlow explained.
The most common reasons for not accepting the HPV vaccine were lack of information about the vaccine, fears that the vaccine would be harmful, and concern that it would promote early sexual activity or promiscuity.
"If these findings map on to uptake (of the HPV vaccine), it may mean some areas of the UK achieve particularly low uptake," Marlow colleagues point out in a report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
"Health professionals working in ethnically dense areas should be aware of the possible differences in attitudes to HPV vaccination," Marlow told Reuters Health.
SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2009.