TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Young sexual minority men do not fully understand their risk for human papillomavirus due to a lack of information from health care providers, according to research involving The University of Alabama.

A study published in the Journal of Community Health examined what young sexual minority men — a high-risk and high-need population that includes gay, bisexual, queer or straight-identified men who have sex with men — know about HPV and the HPV vaccine and how health care providers communicate information about the virus and vaccine.

“By learning about sexual minority men’s diverse health needs and routinely offering the HPV vaccine, we can move toward a health promotion model and not only a disease prevention model,” said Dr. Jessica Jaiswal, UA assistant professor of health science and lead author of the study.

In the study, researchers found that health care providers rarely discuss HPV and the HPV vaccine with patients who are young sexual minority men, and, when they do, their communication is often inadequate in conveying potential risks of HPV and benefits of vaccination.

“Clinicians have a direct role in expanding the availability of LGBTQ-competent healthcare,” said Jaiswal. Read more via University of Alabama