Skip Navigation
Menu
Letters |15 December 2015

Sexual Orientation Identity Disparities in Awareness and Initiation of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine

Madeline Sterling, MD, MPH

Article, Author, and Disclosure Information
Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
×
FULL TEXT
TO THE EDITOR:
Agénor and colleagues' study (1) is one of the first to examine the association between sexual identity and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among adolescent and young adult women by using a large, national probability sample and a validated measure of sexual orientation. The results suggest that lesbians and bisexual women are less likely to initiate HPV vaccination than heterosexual women. Unfortunately, this discrepancy highlights further disparities in our health care system for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning persons.
Low rates of HPV vaccination among lesbian and bisexual women have been described in the literature as a multifactorial phenomenon (2). Lesbian and bisexual women are less likely to have health insurance and access to primary care providers and to engage in Papanicolaou testing (3) than heterosexual women. In addition, they are less familiar with how HPV is transmitted (4) and thus less likely to feel susceptible to infection.
FULL TEXT
PDF
Not Available
Citations
Citation

Sterling M. Sexual Orientation Identity Disparities in Awareness and Initiation of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine. Ann Intern Med. ;163:960. doi: 10.7326/L15-5182

Download citation file:

© 2019

×
Permissions

Published: Ann Intern Med. 2015;163(12):960.

DOI: 10.7326/L15-5182

0 Citations
CONTINUE WITH LIMITED ACCESS
Annals of Internal Medicine
To receive access to the full text of freely available articles, alerts, and more. You will be directed to acponline.org to complete your registration.
×
acp link acp
silverchair link silverchair

Copyright © 2019 American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.

Print ISSN: 0003-4819 | Online ISSN: 1539-3704

Privacy Policy

|

Conditions of Use

This site uses cookies. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our privacy policy. | Accept
×

You need a subscription to this content to use this feature.

×
PDF Downloads Require Access to the Full Article.
Annals of Internal Medicine
To receive access to the full text of freely available articles, alerts, and more. You will be directed to acponline.org to complete your registration.
×
Access to this Free Content Requires Users to be Registered and Logged In. Please Choose One of the Following Options
Annals of Internal Medicine
To receive access to the full text of freely available articles, alerts, and more. You will be directed to acponline.org to complete your registration.
×