Awareness HPV causes oropharyngeal cancer and perceptions about cancer prevention among US adults

This study investigates the awareness of HPV as a risk factor for oropharyngeal cancer among US adults using data from the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 5 Cycle 4. Among 2231 surveyed adults, only 29.5% were aware of the causal relationship between HPV and oropharyngeal cancer. Over one-fourth of respondents held the belief that cancer is not preventable. Factors associated with lower awareness included Hispanic ethnicity and the belief that cancer is not preventable, while higher education was associated with increased awareness. These findings underscore the critical need for population-level educational interventions to increase the awareness of HPV, its association with cancer, and the preventability of HPV-associated cancers through HPV vaccination.