Kobetz E, Menard J, Hazan G, Koru-Sengul T, Joseph T, Nissan J, Barton B, Blanco J, Kornfeld J
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
Educ Health (Abingdon). 2011 Dec;24(3):479. Epub 2011 Dec 7.
Women in Haiti and throughout the Haitian Diaspora shoulder a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer morbidity and mortality. The widespread Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination holds promise for helping to attenuate this disparity. However, previous research has not fully examined Haitian women's perceptions of, and barriers to, HPV vaccination, which is essential for informing future intervention. The current paper aims to fill this gap.
As part of ongoing Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) efforts, we conducted a series of focus groups with Haitian immigrant women in Little Haiti, the predominantly Haitian neighborhood in Miami, Florida, U.S. Focus group questions assessed women's knowledge and beliefs about cervical cancer and HPV, their opinions of vaccines in general, their knowledge and perceptions of the HPV vaccine specifically and health communications preferences for cervical cancer prevention.
Among the participants who had heard of HPV, many held misconceptions about virus transmission and did not understand the role of HPV in the development of cervical cancer. Virtually all participants expressed support for vaccines in general as beneficial for health. Some women had heard of the HPV vaccine, primarily as the result of a contemporary popular media campaign promoting the Gardasil® vaccine. Physician recommendation was commonly mentioned as a reason for vaccination, in addition to having more than one sex partner. Women felt the HPV vaccine was less appropriate for adolescent girls who are presumed as not sexually active. Women indicated a strong preference to obtain health information through trusted sources, such as Haitian physicians, Haitian Community Health Workers, and especially Kreyol-language audiovisual media.
Study findings indicate a need for culturally and linguistically appropriate educational initiatives to promote awareness of HPV and its role in cervical cancer, the importance of vaccination against the virus, explicitly differentiating HPV from HIV and providing specific information about vaccine safety.
In the U.S., there is a substantial lack of educational information available in Haitian about HPV and cervical cancer. This gap results in missed opportunities to promote disease prevention through vaccination and regular screening. Addressing such gaps is essential for achieving health equity among Haitian immigrant women and other, similarly underserved women, who are disproportionately burdened by cervical cancer.
海地及散居各地的海地女性承受着宫颈癌发病和死亡的巨大负担。广泛接种人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）疫苗有望帮助减轻这一差距。然而，此前的研究尚未全面考察海地女性对HPV疫苗接种的看法和障碍，而这对于为未来干预提供信息至关重要。本文旨在填补这一空白。
作为正在进行的社区参与式研究（CBPR）工作的一部分，我们在美国佛罗里达州迈阿密海地人聚居的小海地与海地移民女性进行了一系列焦点小组访谈。焦点小组的问题评估了女性对宫颈癌和HPV的知识与信念、她们对一般疫苗的看法、对HPV疫苗的具体知识和认知，以及宫颈癌预防的健康传播偏好。
在听说过HPV的参与者中，许多人对病毒传播存在误解，不了解HPV在宫颈癌发展中的作用。几乎所有参与者都普遍表示支持疫苗对健康有益。一些女性听说过HPV疫苗，主要是由于当代一场推广佳达修®疫苗的大众媒体宣传活动。除了有多个性伴侣外，医生推荐通常被提及作为接种疫苗的一个原因。女性认为HPV疫苗对假定没有性活动的少女不太适用。女性表示强烈倾向于通过可信赖的来源获取健康信息，如海地医生、海地社区卫生工作者，尤其是克里奥尔语视听媒体。
研究结果表明，需要开展文化和语言适宜的教育举措，以提高对HPV及其在宫颈癌中作用的认识、接种该病毒疫苗的重要性，明确区分HPV与HIV，并提供有关疫苗安全性的具体信息。
在美国，海地语中关于HPV和宫颈癌的教育信息严重匮乏。这一差距导致错失通过接种疫苗和定期筛查促进疾病预防的机会。解决这些差距对于实现海地移民女性和其他同样服务不足、宫颈癌负担过重的女性之间的健康公平至关重要。
