3090 - Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Availability in Korean American Clinics in Southern California: A 10-Year Follow-up Study

05:00pm - 06:00pm PT

Hall F

Screen: 30

POSTER

Presenter(s)

Michelle Lee, - USC, Los Angeles, CA

M. Lee¹, D. Jeon², K. Pang³, S. Lee⁴, N. Lee⁵, G. K. In⁵, A. Kim⁶, S. K. Yoo⁷, and A. Y. Han⁸; ¹University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, ²University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, ³University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, ⁴UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, ⁵Department of Medical Oncology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, ⁶Los Angeles General Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, ⁷Department of Radiation Oncology, Los Angeles General Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, ⁸Keck Medicine of USC, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Los Angeles, CA

Purpose/Objective(s):

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is a cornerstone of cervical, throat, gynecological, throat, and anal cancers prevention; however, disparities in vaccine access may contribute to suboptimal vaccination rates. Our previous survey in 2014 found that only 30.9% of clinics targeting Korean or Korean-speaking patients in Southern California offered the HPV vaccine. This study provides a decade-long follow-up to evaluate changes in vaccine availability over time.

Materials/Methods:

A cross-sectional survey design was employed to assess HPV vaccine accessibility across Korean American clinics in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Korean American clinics were defined as healthcare facilities primarily serving patients of Korean-heritage. Prospective clinics were identified from the Korean Healthcare Yellow Pages and other publicly available sources. Trained interviewers conducted telephone surveys between October 2024-December 2024 using a standardized questionnaire identical to that of the 2014 study. Collected variables included caller language (English/Korean), gender, on-site vaccine availability, and other reasons for non-availability (e.g. insurance coverage, clinic recommendations, other). Secondary data on clinic location and specialty were integrated and analyzed using statistical and geographic methods to elucidate patterns in vaccine accessibility.

Results:

A total of 90 Korean-American provider clinics were identified, comprising 35 (38.9%) in Internal Medicine, 30 (33.3%) Family Medicine, 16 (17.8%) OB/Gyn, and 9 (10.0%) Pediatrics. Overall, 25 clinics (27.8%) offered on-site HPV vaccination—a 3.1% decrease compared to 2014 . Family Medicine clinics experienced a decline in vaccine access from 26.7% to 20.0%, while OB/Gyn clinics decreased access from 50.0% to 31.3%. In contrast, Internal Medicine clinics demonstrated an increase from 10.5% to 14.3%, and Pediatric clinics exhibited an improvement in vaccine availability from 73.3% to 100%.

Conclusion:

This study suggests an overall decrease in HPV vaccine availability across multiple specialties for clinics serving the Southern California Korean American community, but this may be explained by a transition away from on-site vaccination to a referral vaccination model. Specialty-specific trends in HPV vaccine access thus could highlight areas for targeted intervention for this population. To address these disparities, targeted outreach that leverages culturally tailored communication strategies with Korean-speaking community service organizations may be beneficial.