Abstract

Objective: Human papillomavirus vaccination coverage is suboptimal, especially among males. Social networks influence young adults’ health behaviors and could be leveraged to promote vaccination. We sought to describe how young sexual minority men communicate about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination with their sexual partners. Participants: National (U.S.) sample of sexual minority men ages 18–26 (n = 42) from January 2019. Methods: We conducted four online focus groups and identified salient themes using inductive content analysis. Results: Across groups, participants described that HPV vaccination is not a focus of their conversations with sexual partners. Other key themes related to HPV vaccine communication included: varying discissions based on relationship type, and valuing conversations with partners about safer sex. Conclusions: Findings provide novel insight into how young sexual minority men communicate with their sexual partners about HPV vaccination and identify potential areas for interventions to promote communication. Future research is needed to investigate associations between partner communication and HPV vaccine uptake.

摘要

目的：人乳头瘤病毒疫苗接种覆盖率欠佳，尤其是男性。社交网络影响年轻人的健康行为，可以用来促进疫苗接种。我们试图描述年轻的性少数男性如何与性伴侣就人乳头瘤病毒 (HPV) 疫苗接种进行交流。参与者：从 2019 年 1 月开始，全国（美国）18-26 岁的性少数男性样本（n  = 42） 。方法：我们进行了四个在线焦点小组，并使用归纳内容分析确定了突出的主题。结果：在各组中，参与者描述 HPV 疫苗接种不是他们与性伴侣谈话的重点。与 HPV 疫苗交流相关的其他关键主题包括：根据关系类型进行不同的讨论，以及重视与伴侣就安全性行为进行的对话。结论：研究结果为年轻的性少数男性如何与他们的性伴侣就 HPV 疫苗接种进行交流提供了新的见解，并确定了促进交流的干预措施的潜在领域。未来的研究需要调查合作伙伴沟通与 HPV 疫苗接种之间的关联。