Online Program

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Friday, October 4
Fri, Oct 4, 5:15 PM - 6:30 PM
Evergreen Ballroom Prefunction
Celebrating Women in Statistics and Data Science Reception and Poster Session 3

Educational Attainment and Response Bias: A Unique Barrier When Studying Predictors of HPV in Liberia (306721)

Emma Benn, Mount Sinai School of Medicine 
*Richa Deshpande, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 
Chengcheng Tu, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 

Keywords: Human Papillomavirus; Global Public Health; Response Bias; Educational Attainment; Sexual Encounters

Objectives-The aim of this study was to identify important predictors of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in Liberia, while exploring the major contributors to missingness related to age at first sexual encounter (AFSE). Methods-Bivariate assessments were conducted using T-tests for continuous predictors and Chi-Squared, Cochran Armitage Trend or Fisher’s Exact test for categorical predictors. Important contributors were examined using Logistic Regression, as informed by bivariate assessments, to HPV status and to missingness in AFSE. Results-In a sample of 465 women, those with higher education were more likely to report AFSE than less educated women (p<0.001). Women with and without HPV differed with respect to education (p=0.001), employment (p=0.002) and marital status (p=0.024). The adjusted model that best explained the association with HPV status included these three variables. Conclusion-While a major contributor to HPV in Liberia, education is also linked to whether individuals respond to stigmatized questions. If unresolved,global health researchers could be left with incorrect estimates of the magnitude of the true underlying contributors to HPV in this vulnerable population.