Literacy of human papillomavirus, uptake and acceptability for its vaccination among young adults: A cross-sectional study in an Asian urban community

This study aimed to assess the literacy of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and its vaccine between genders in young adults in an Asian urban community. The secondary aim was to identify factors associated with the acceptability of HPV vaccine among unvaccinated males. A self-administered e-survey was distributed via convenience sampling over 3 months in 2022 in Singapore. Demographic data and literacy on HPV and HPV vaccine were collected from young adults aged 15–24 years through a secured electronic platform. Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used to examine the association between acceptability of vaccine uptake and literacy of HPV and HPV vaccine. 591 youths comprising of 236 (40%) males and 355 (60%) females completed the survey. HPV vaccination uptake rate was low in males (11.4%) but high in females (80%). Both genders had low awareness on the ability of HPV to infect males (50%) and majority (80%) were unaware of the benefits of HPV vaccine to males. Among unvaccinated males, 82.5% accepted the recommendation of providing males with HPV vaccination, and 72.7% were acceptable towards taking up the vaccine. The main barriers to vaccination were cost (78.9%) and inconvenience (52.2%), while lifelong immunity (67.5%) and government health policies (67%) were identified as enablers. Young adults had low literacy on HPV’s ability to infect males and the benefits of HPV vaccine to both genders. Its uptake in males would depend on their acceptance of the HPV vaccine, cost, administration convenience and duration of its immunity post-vaccination.