JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection and can cause many cancers including anal, cervical, vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers [1] and can infect both females and males. HPV vaccination rates are lower than other national vaccination programs, despite its importance. Research literature indicates people obtain health-related information from Internet sources and social media [2], although the volumes of social media information seeking reported are inconsistent.

Objective:

This study aims to examine the association between social media usage and HPV knowledge and HPV awareness.

Methods:

This study analyzed public health data collected through the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) conducted by the US National Cancer Institute. The analysis used data collected in 2020; 2,948 responses were included in the analysis. Six HPV-related questions were used to identify three dependent variables: HPV awareness, HPV vaccine awareness, and HPV knowledge about HPV-related cancers. Four social media usage variables were included as control variables. Six logistic regressions using replicate weight were used for the analysis.

Results:

In general, respondents were aware of HPV (68.40%) and the HPV vaccine (64.04%), and know that HPV can cause cervical cancer (48.00%). However, fewer respondents are knowledgeable about the relationships between HPV and penile cancer (19.18%), between HPV and anal cancer (18.33%), and between HPV and oral cancer (19.86%). Respondents who have participated in an online forum or support group for people with a similar health or medical issue are more likely to be aware of HPV (OR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.13, 4.03). Respondents who have visited a social networking site (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.01, 2.23) and who have shared health information on social networking sites (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.04, 2.42) are more likely to be aware of the HPV vaccine. There are no statistical differences between respondents who have watched a health-related video on YouTube and respondents who have not.

Conclusions:

In general, there is a lack of association between social media usage and knowledge that HPV can cause cancers other than cervical cancer. Additionally, the results of this study may indicate that a lack of high-quality, accurate information in YouTube videos may influence HPV awareness and knowledge. Efforts to use storytelling on social media, and especially on YouTube, to provide accurate information about HPV and the benefits of HPV vaccination are suggested.