Understanding HPV Vaccine Uptake Among American Indian and Alaska Native College Students: A Scoping Review.
This scoping review identified only three eligible publications on HPV vaccination among American Indian college students aged 18–26 and reported low HPV knowledge, limited perceived risk, gender-related attitude differences, stigma, access barriers, and healthcare mistrust, with no Alaska Native participants represented.
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This scoping review identified only three eligible publications on HPV vaccination among American Indian college students aged 18–26 and reported low HPV knowledge, limited perceived risk, gender-related attitude differences, stigma, access barriers, and healthcare mistrust, with no Alaska Native participants represented.
Research significance
The review supports an evidence-based prevention gap in an underserved population; it is reasonable, but not tested here, to hypothesize that community-engaged, culturally appropriate catch-up vaccination strategies addressing knowledge, access, stigma, and mistrust could increase HPV vaccine uptake and ultimately reduce HPV-associated cancer risk.
Source abstract
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities experience disproportionate rates of HPV-associated cancers, yet vaccination uptake remains low. This scoping review mapped research on HPV vaccination among AI/AN college students aged 18-26, including vaccine uptake, knowledge, perceptions, and barriers. Using Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology and the PRISMA-ScR checklist, MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL Ultimate, Embase (Ovid), ERIC (Ovid), Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection were searched with no restrictions on publication year. Eligible studies included AI/AN college students aged 18-26 and examined factors influencing HPV vaccine uptake; studies that did not disaggregate AI/AN data were excluded. Of 911 abstracts identified, three publications met inclusion criteria; all included studies drew exclusively on American Indian samples and did not include Alaska Native participants. The findings reveal low HPV knowledge, limited perceived risk, gender differences in attitudes, and barriers including stigma, access challenges, and mistrust of healthcare systems. The near absence of contemporary research reflects ongoing data invisibility and structural factors affecting AI/AN young adults. AI/AN college students represent a critical yet overlooked population for catch-up HPV vaccination, requiring community-engaged strategies to advance cancer equity.