What are parents' perceptions of the HPV vaccine for their adolescent sons?

Abstract

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical, penile, anal, and oral cancer when left untreated. Each year approximately 6.2 million individuals are affected with HPV (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). Half of the new cases reported every year are in adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 24 years. In 2006, the HPV vaccine was released for use in women ages 9 to 26 years. Since 2009, the same vaccine given to young women has been available for boys and young men ages 9 to 26 years. Currently the research that has been done is of parents' perceptions of the HPV vaccine for their adolescent daughters. Research is lacking on how parents perceive this same vaccine for their adolescent sons. The research question examined was: What are parents' perceptions of the HPV vaccine for their adolescent son? The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions parents hold regarding the HPV vaccine for their adolescent son. The setting is in a Midwestern community. The theoretical framework is the Health Belief Model. The study design is a phenomenological qualitative design. Parents were interviewed after being chosen using a snowball technique. The interviews were conducted with data saturation met after 8 interviews. Data was analyzed using Giorgi's method (Streubert Speziale and Carpenter, 2007). In conclusion, education needs to be developed for parents to make an informed decision about vaccinating their sons against HPV.