Men's Attitudes Toward Receiving the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine

OBJECTIVES: To determine men's attitudes toward receiving the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five hundred seventy-one men read a 1-page informational sheet about HPV and the HPV vaccine before completing a 29-item questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were calculated on all variables. RESULTS: Of these men, 33% wanted to receive the HPV vaccine, 27% did not, and 40% were undecided. The main reasons for wanting the vaccine included a desire to stay healthy (67.4%); prevention of cancer in my sexual partner(s) (52.9%); prevention of anal, penile, and head and neck cancer (41.0%); fear of cancer (33.4%); and prevention of genital warts (32.8%). Being in a monogamous relationship and not at risk (18.9%), not interested (13.8%), and not enough evidence yet to prove that it will help men (8.2%) were the main reasons for not wanting to be vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS: Although many men want to receive the HPV vaccine, more remain undecided. Pending favorable safety and efficacy results from a clinical trial for men, substantial factual education will likely convince many ambivalent men to receive the HPV vaccine.