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. 2016;6(1):63970.
doi: 10.4236/wjv.2016.61002.

Clinician Misperceptions about the Importance of Adolescent HPV Vaccination

Martin C Mahoney  1 , Frances G Saad-Harfouche  2 , Christy A Widman  2 , Annamaria Masucci Twarozek  1 , Deborah O Erwin  2 , Elisa M Rodriguez  2
Affiliations

Clinician Misperceptions about the Importance of Adolescent HPV Vaccination

Martin C Mahoney et al. World J Vaccines. 2016.

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent HPV vaccination rates remain suboptimal. The purpose of the study was to investigate attitudes about HPV vaccine relative to other adolescent vaccines among clinical staff from primary care offices and school based clinics.

Methods: We interviewed clinicians in primary care offices and school-based clinics regarding their attitudes about HPV vaccine relative to Tdap and MCV4.

Results: Respondents (n = 36) included clinical staff in family medicine (47%), pediatrics (25%), obstetrics/gynecology (19%) and school-based health clinics (8%). Only 3% strongly agreed and 17% agreed that completion of HPV vaccine was more important than completion of pertussis vaccine (Tdap), while 6% strongly agreed and 33% agreed that completion of HPV vaccine was more important than completion of meningitis vaccine (MCV4).

Discussion: Providing clinicians with additional information about the cancer prevention benefits of the HPV vaccine and the greater risk for HPV infection/disease relative to other vaccine preventable adolescent diseases may help to increase HPV vaccination rates among adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescents; Cancer Prevention; Clinical Medicine; Human Papillomavirus (HPV); Human Papillomavirus Vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Other than Dr. Mahoney, the other co-authors have no financial interest in this study and no conflicts of interests to disclose. Dr. Mahoney has served on the speakers bureau and as a consultant to Merck on the topic of HPV vaccination (Gardasil and Gardasil-9).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Attitudes regarding importance of HPV vaccine to Tdap and MCV4 vaccines among adolescents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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