Is political party alignment associated with HPV vaccination among university students?

Details

The study aimed to determine whether university students’ political party alignment was associated with HPV vaccination rates, HPV knowledge, and risk factors.

This was an online survey emailed in April 2024 to 28,095 students enrolled at the University of Iowa. Survey responses were entered online and downloaded into a REDCap database for analysis.

Among the 1,380 respondents, 54% aligned with the Democratic Party, 16% with the Republican Party, 2.4% with the Libertarian Party, 23% were Independent, and 4.9% aligned with other parties. Women made up 81% of Democratic-aligned respondents, compared with 71% of Republican-aligned and 68% of Independent respondents.

The overall HPV vaccination rate among respondents was 82%. Vaccination rates were 88% among women versus 73% among men, and 88% among Democratic-aligned respondents versus 75% among Republican-aligned and 76% among Independent respondents. The rate among Health Science students was 87%. The median age at the first HPV vaccine dose was 14 years.

Among women aged 21 or older, 76% of those aligned with Democrats had received a Pap smear, compared with 69% of those aligned with Republicans and 65% of Independents (p=0.040). Among Democratic-aligned students, 94% recommended that others get the HPV vaccine, compared with 75% of Republican-aligned and 83% of Independent students (p<0.001).

Age at first sex, the percentage who were sexually active, knowledge of HPV prevention, non-heterosexual orientation, and COVID-19 and influenza vaccination rates were higher among Democratic-aligned respondents. The number of sexual partners, the percentage with a history of sexually transmitted infection, and reasons for not receiving the HPV vaccine were similar among Democratic-aligned, Republican-aligned, and Independent respondents.

The authors concluded that HPV vaccination rates were highest among women and Democrats, as were knowledge of HPV prevention and disease and support for HPV vaccination.