An opportunity to increase human papillomavirus vaccination rates: Change the guidelines

ABSTRACT

Given the low rates of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiation and timely series completion in 11- and 12-year old children, we sought to assess potential opportunities for initiating routine vaccination at a younger age. A cross-sectional study of Latino parents of HPV vaccine-eligible 9- or 10-year–old children in New York City assessed whether there were opportunities to discuss the HPV vaccine during their most recent primary care provider (PCP) visit. Parents were approached between November, 2016 and January, 2018. Of 86 parents who participated, 97% reported having visited the child’s PCP in the previous year for an annual checkup and 85% reported that they had neither discussed the HPV vaccine nor received a recommendation for the vaccine during that visit. In a population of Latino parents, predominantly Mexican immigrants with less than a high school education and limited English proficiency, most 9- to 10-year–old children followed the recommendation for an annual PCP visit. Lowering the recommended age for routine vaccination with the HPV vaccine to 9 − 10 years of age should be considered as an important strategy to increase HPV vaccination rates in this and other populations.

KEYWORDS:

• HPV vaccine
• human papillomavirus
• immunization
• vaccination rates

Acknowledgments

The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the awarding agencies.

Author contributions

Dr. Aragones conceptualized, designed and implemented the study, coordinated and supervised data collection and analyzed and drafted the initial manuscript, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. Drs. Gany and Bruno, designed and implemented the study and participated in the analyses and interpretation of the results, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. Dr. Kaplan provided support with the design of the study, participated in the analyses and interpretation of the results, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Clinical trial registry name & registration number

Name: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Social Marketing Campaign to Increase HPV Vaccination Among Mexican American Children; NCT02697396.

Data sharing statement

Data for this manuscript stems from a sub-aim on the study described in the Clinical trials registry. All of the participant data collected during the trial, after deidentification is available for sharing. All study documents (protocol, informed consent) are available for review as well with no end date for such review and for anyone who wishes to access the data or documents, upon request.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health: U54-13778804 CCNY/MSKCC Partnership, Clinical and Translational Science Center grant (UL1 TR000457), training grant T32CA009461, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center grant (P30 CA008748). The funding sources have not been involved in the development of this manuscript or its study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the report, and/or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the awarding agencies.