Using crowdsourcing to assess HPV knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes in the United States.

Background: The incidence of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer (HPV-OPC) has increased over the past three decades, mirroring increasing head and neck cancer mortality. Public knowledge and attitudes regarding HPV remain inadequately understood. This study uses crowdsourcing to explore patterns in HPV knowledge and attitudes, providing a foundation for targeted public health interventions.

Methods: A brief survey was administered via the Amazon mTurk platform. Primary outcomes included HPV awareness and a 13-question knowledge panel. Logistic regression evaluated associations between participant characteristics and HPV awareness, attitudes, and vaccine uptake. Poisson regression assessed examined correlates of HPV knowledge scores.

Results: Among 266 respondents (mean age 44.4 years), 86.1 % had heard of HPV. The mean HPV knowledge score among aware participants was 8.6 out of 13. Higher knowledge was associated with greater education, health literacy, and reported HPV vaccination. Nearly 90 % of all respondents reported no HPV vaccine doses. Participants with more sexual partners had greater HPV awareness but also engaged in higher-risk behaviors. Those with fewer sexual partners were less likely to perceive themselves at risk for HPV. HPV knowledge and attitudes were also associated with age, race, ethnicity, sex, insurance status, and health literacy.

Conclusion: Greater HPV awareness was observed among individuals at higher risk, but temporality could not be established. Those with fewer sexual partners believe they are less likely to be at risk for HPV infection and that HPV is not a major health concern. These findings highlight persistent gaps in public understanding of HPV and support the need for targeted education and vaccine outreach.