Psychosocial Predictors of Hepatitis B Vaccination Among Young African-American Gay Men in the Deep South

Abstract

Despite recommendations for vaccination against hepatitis B virus (HBV) of men who have sex with men (MSM), most remain unvaccinated. The goal of this study was to identify attitudes and beliefs associated with vaccination against HBV among black MSM. The Birmingham Vaccine Acceptance Questionnaire was used to collect data from gay bar patrons. Of the 143 participants, nearly 42% reported at least one dose of HBV vaccine. In multivariable analysis, characteristics associated with vaccination were a decreased perception of barriers to HBV vaccination (odds ratio [OR], 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22–0.61;P = 0.001); increased perceived medical severity (OR, 5.34; 95% CI, 2.38–11.96;P = 0.001) and personal severity (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.38–3.56;P = 0.006) of HBV infection; and increased perceived general medical self-efficacy (OR, 9.22; 95% CI, 3.52–24.11;P = 0.0001) and personal self-efficacy (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.14–4.63;P = 0.008) to complete the three-dose series. Our findings underscore the need to increase vaccination through innovative approaches to reduce perceived barriers to vaccination while increasing perceived severity of HBV infection and self-efficacy to complete the vaccine series.