| Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is a highly prevalent sexually transmitted
infection that can lead to several anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers. A content
analysis was performed on magazine articles between September 2005 and August
2017, a timeframe that encompasses four highly publicized changes to the prevention,
diagnosis, and treatment of HPV and its related cancers—a controversial vaccine, a new
HPV test, revisions to current Pap testing, and the enaction of the Affordable Care
Act—to assess the accuracy of risk portrayal and factors that may influence HPV
prevention behavior and cancer screening. Findings suggest these magazines present
fragmented, incomplete information about HPV that often inaccurately portrays the
reader’s risk of serious illness, which may prevent proper prevention and diagnostic
seeking behavior.
Keywords: human papillomavirus, cancer prevention, risk perception, agency
assignment, anticipated regret |