Acceptability of human papillomavirus vaccination and sexual experience prior to disclosure to health care providers among men who have sex with men in Vancouver, Canada: implications for targeted vaccination programs

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) may benefit from human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine due to increased risk for HPV infection and related disease. We assessed HPV vaccine acceptability and sexual experience prior to disclosure to Health Care Providers (HCP) to understand implications of targeted vaccination strategies for MSM.

Methods: From July 2008 to February 2009, 1169 MSM aged ≥19 years were recruited at community venues in Vancouver. We assessed key variables from a self-administered questionnaire and independent predictors of HPV vaccine acceptability using multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Of 1041 respondents, 697 (67.0%) were willing to receive HPV vaccine and 71.3% had heard of HPV. Significant multivariate predictors of higher vaccine acceptability were (adjusted odds ratio [95% CI]): previous diagnosis of genital warts (1.7 [1.1, 2.6]), disclosure of sexual behavior to HCP (1.6 [1.1, 2.3]), annual income at least $20,000 (1.5 [1.1, 2.1]), previous hepatitis A or B vaccination (1.4 [1.0, 2.0]), and no recent recreational drug use (1.4 [1.0, 2.0]). Most MSM (78.7%) had disclosed sexual behavior to HCP and median time from first sexual contact with males to disclosure was 6.0 years (IQR 2-14 years); for men ≤26 years these were 72.0% and 3.0 years (IQR 1-8 years) respectively.

Conclusions: Willingness to receive HPV vaccine was substantial among MSM in Vancouver; however, acceptability varied by demographics, risk, and health history. HPV vaccine programs delivered by HCP would offer limited benefit given the duration of time from sexual debut to disclosure to HCP.