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HPV vaccine initiation, parental awareness influenced by provider
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Provider recommendation facilitates parental awareness of HPV vaccination and vaccination initiation among adolescents, according to study findings in Clinical Pediatrics.
Mahbubur Rahman, MBBS, PhD, MPH, of the University of Texas in Galveston, and colleagues analyzed data from the CDC’s 2011 National Immunization Survey-Teen to assess the association between parental HPV vaccine awareness, provider recommendation and HPV vaccine initiation among adolescents aged 13 to 17 years. Data were available for 11,236 girls and 12,328 boys.
Fifty-three percent of girls and 34.8% of boys reported initiation and completion of the 3-dose series in 2011.
The majority of parents were aware of the HPV vaccine, 90% of girls’ parents and 81.5% of boys’ parents reported vaccine awareness. Almost 59% of girls’ parents reported their provider recommended the HPV vaccine for their child vs. 14.2% of boys’ parents.
Parental HPV vaccine awareness and provider recommendation individually predicted HPV vaccine initiation and completion among adolescents, according to adjusted logistic regression analyses. However, when parental awareness and provider recommendation were analyzed simultaneously, provider recommendation independently predicted vaccine initiation and completion, indicating provider recommendation has a mediation effect.
“The results of this study, based on nationally representative data, demonstrate the importance of incorporating provider recommendation into all programs promoting HPV vaccine uptake in adolescent children. … Increasing provider recommendations for the HPV vaccine may help increase HPV vaccine initiation and completion rates among adolescent children in the United States,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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