Characterizing HPV Vaccine Discourse On Reddit

Introduction: Approximately 23,000 women and 15,793 men in the United States are affected by human papilloma virus (HPV) related cancers. Many of the infections could have been prevented through vaccination [2]. The CDC has recommended a 3-dose vaccination series as a safe and effective method of protecting against HPV strains associated with cervical and other cancers for girls since June 2006 and for males since October 2011. However, vaccination rates remain low. Strengthening uptake efforts is a preeminent national public health concern, as demonstrated by the Healthy People 2020 objective to increase HPV three-doses vaccination series completion for adolescents aged 13–15 to 80% by the year 2020. In order to promote HPV vaccination through public health communication efforts, the mechanisms in which individuals utilize resources related to health information must be identified and understood. Surveillance of social media data can provide an alternative approach to observe patterns of information dissemination and knowledge exchange as related to HPV vaccination behaviors [1]. Understanding extant online discussions on HPV vaccination is pivotal in developing concerted, tailored health communication efforts to enhance HPV vaccination rates. There is a growing number of studies contributing to the literature addressing the nexus of HPV and social media data, but to date, no published study has examined Reddit content related to HPV vaccination.