The role of the media on maternal confidence in provider HPV recommendation

BACKGROUND: Despite a growing understanding of the importance of provider HPV recommendation on parental acceptance, U.S. HPV vaccination rates remain suboptimal. Given the prevalence and use of the media for health decisions, this study examined the relationship between the media and provider HPV recommendation on maternal HPV vaccine hesitancy. METHODS: Thirty individual interviews with HPV vaccine-accepting mothers in the Midwest U.S. were conducted to examine their feelings of hesitancy around the decision to accept HPV vaccination at the time of provider recommendation and their suggestions for improving the recommendation experience by addressing media concerns. RESULTS: Media exposure was an antecedent to hesitancy for three main vaccination concerns: safety, protection/efficacy and sexual stigma. Although mothers accepted vaccination, they continued to feel confused and hesitant about HPV vaccination. They had several recommendations for how providers could combat hesitancy to improve confidence in HPV vaccine acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: Providers’ approach to HPV vaccination recommendation must consider concerns reported in the media with delivery techniques modified to adjust to maternal fears absorbed from adverse media information. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-020-09877-x.