A new Florida State University study show that men are not interest in getting HPV vaccine although they have been informed that a new vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) would also help protect their female partners against developing cervical cancer from the sexually transmitted HPV infection.
Mary Gerend and Jessica Barley found that men are not interest in getting HPV vaccine just because they can help protect their female sexual partners. An HPV vaccine for women has been available since 2006, and a vaccine for men is likely to be approved in the near future.
For maximum benefit to cervical cancer prevention programs, both men and women should be vaccinated but little was known about men’s interest in the vaccine before Gerend’s study, which was published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Gerend presented the findings recently at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Montreal.
Gerend’s research team randomly divided 356 male college students into groups and gave one group a self-protection message that focused on the benefits of HPV vaccination for men and the other a partner-protection message that focused on the benefits of HPV vaccination for men and their female partners.
Men were asked to rate, on a scale of 1 to 6, the likelihood that they would get the vaccine, with 1 equalling “very unlikely” and 6 equalling “very likely.” There was little difference between the groups, with both expressing only moderate interest in getting the HPV vaccine. Those who received the self-protection message had a mean response of 3.9 on the 6-point scale, while the mean response from the group who got the partner-protection message was 3.8.
Moreover, men who identified themselves as being in a committed relationship also did not indicate a higher degree of interest in the HPV vaccination.
The key point in encouraging women to receive the HPV vaccine is the message about how it reduces their risk of developing cervical cancer. The results of Gerend’s study have important implications for how the HPV vaccine for men will be marketed for public acceptance when it becomes available. Efficacy trials in men are ongoing, and the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve HPV Vaccine for use in men as early as this year.