Effects of information framing on human papillomavirus vaccination.
BACKGROUND
In June 2006, the first vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) transmission was approved for use in females in the United States. Because the vaccine was approved for females as young as 9, its success depends on parents' and individuals' willingness to accept vaccination. Little is known about how attitudes toward this vaccine will be influenced by the way the vaccine is portrayed in the media or in public debate.


METHODS
To assess the effects of information framing on intentions to vaccinate self or female children, if appropriate, 635 adults read one of three short descriptive paragraphs about the vaccine, each of which emphasized a different aspect of the vaccine. Participants were then asked about their intentions to vaccinate under cost or no-cost conditions.


RESULTS
Women who read that the vaccine protects only against cervical cancer had significantly higher intentions to vaccinate themselves when the vaccine was available at little or no cost compared with women who read alternate versions of the descriptive paragraph, F(2,325) = 5.74, p = 0.004.


CONCLUSIONS
How the HPV vaccine is framed may affect vaccination intentions under certain conditions. Women may be more receptive to the vaccine if it is framed as a cervical cancer prevention tool rather than a sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention tool.
Leader
Amy E
AE
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. aleader@asc.upenn.edu
Weiner
Judith L
JL
Kelly
Bridget J
BJ
Hornik
Robert C
RC
Cappella
Joseph N
JN
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines