Use of the Carolina HPV Immunization Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (CHIAS) in Young Adult Women

Background: Validated measures that can accurate describe young adults' HPV vaccination attitudes and how these relate to vaccination intention and receipt are needed for developing interventions to improve low HPV vaccination levels. The Carolina HPV Immunization Attitudes Scale (CHIAS) is a validated measure of these outcomes that was originally designed for parents. Objective: To assess the performance of the CHIAS among young adult women using an exploratory factor analysis. Methods: A convenience sample of 139 young adult women (age 18-26 years) were given the CHIAS measure at baseline. Factor analysis was used to determine attitudinal factor groupings and the association of these factors with HPV vaccination intention. A 6-month follow up assessment examined the stability of the CHIAS over time and the association of baseline vaccine factors with vaccine receipt. Results: Five factors loaded on to the CHIAS in young adults - "Barriers,'' "Harms,'' "Effectiveness,'' "Risk Denial'' and "Uncertainty,'' - which was similar to the factor loadings of CHIAS for parents. "Harms'' was the factor most consistently associated with vaccination intention at all time points assessed. Only 5 women had received or made an appointment to receive the vaccine at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: In terms of categorizing HPV vaccination attitudes, the CHIAS appears to have similar performance among young adults as in parents. However, additional studies are needed to assess the utility of the CHIAS for predicting HPV vaccine receipt among the young adult population.