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Major Articles

A randomized intervention study to evaluate whether electronic messaging can increase human papillomavirus vaccine completion and knowledge among college students

, PhD, , MPH, , PhD & , MSN, RN
Pages 269-278 | Received 09 Feb 2015, Accepted 18 Oct 2015, Published online: 18 Mar 2016
 

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate an intervention aimed at increasing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine completion of the 3-dose series and knowledge. Participants: Two hundred sixty-four male and female US college students 18–26 years old who were receiving HPV vaccine dose 1. Methods: Students were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Intervention participants received the electronic intervention (text/e-mail appointment reminders and education messages) and controls received standard-of-care. Baseline/follow-up survey data were collected. Main outcome measures included vaccine completion and knowledge. Results: HPV vaccine completion across groups were not significantly different for HPV dose 2 (53% vs 52%) and dose 3 (34% vs 32%). Mean knowledge score at follow-up for intervention group was significantly higher (p = .01) than at baseline. No significant differences in knowledge were found for the control group. The biggest predictor of HPV vaccine completion was female gender. Conclusions: The intervention increased knowledge but not vaccine completion. More research with catch-up age populations is needed.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of East Carolina University.

Acknowledgments

We thank the physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and staff at the East Carolina University Student Health Services for their assistance during the study, with special thanks to the director, Ms. Jernigan, and pharmacists Jennifer Williams and Greg Morris for their help in study recruitment and facilitation. We also thank Samantha Billings, Christina Tyler, and Ashley Allsbrook for their help with study coordination. Most importantly, we thank the students who participated in this study.

Funding

Financial support for this study was provided entirely by grant MISP-39631 from Merck & Co Inc. (Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01568515). Supported in part by a research grant from Investigator-Initiated Studies Program of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. The funding agreement ensured the authors' independence in designing the study, interpreting the data, writing, and publishing the report. No changes to the manuscript were made based on funder review. The authors have no financial relationships to disclose.

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