ATTITUDES ABOUT HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS IMMUNIZATION - THE INFLUENCE OF HEALTH BELIEFS AND VACCINE CHARACTERISTICS

Backgrond and Objectives: The development of a vaccine to prevent huma n immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a highly desirable goal, H owever, there may be a number of psychosocial barriers to HIV vaccine acceptance, The purpose of this study was to begin to examine some fac tors that might influence attitudes about HIV immunization. Goal: To e valuate the relationship of health beliefs and vaccine characteristics to acceptability of hypothetical HIV immunization. Study Design: The subjects were 222 college students who completed self-administered que stionnaires that addressed health beliefs, vaccine characteristics, an d acceptability of hypothetical HIV vaccines. Results: Health beliefs independently predictive of HIV vaccine acceptability included perceiv ed susceptibility to HIV, perceived nonmembership in a traditionally d efined acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) risk group, and fear of the vaccine causing AIDS, Of the vaccine characteristics, efficacy influenced vaccine acceptability most strongly, followed by type of v accine. Conclusion: These results suggest that universal HIV vaccine a cceptance cannot be assumed and that vaccine characteristics and indiv iduals' health beliefs are likely to influence decisions regarding HIV immunization.