Elsevier

Women's Health Issues

Volume 20, Issue 1, January–February 2010, Pages 28-34
Women's Health Issues

Article
Predictors of Parents' Willingness to Vaccinate for Human Papillomavirus and Physicians' Intentions to Recommend the Vaccine

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2009.08.007Get rights and content

Background

The present study examined potential predictors of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children for human papillomavirus (HPV) and physicians' intentions to encourage parents to vaccinate their children, now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a highly effective vaccine.

Methods

Parents (n = 100) and physicians (n = 100) were surveyed on-line in fall 2006, 4 months after the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was approved by the FDA as a prophylactic vaccine for females ages 9–26 years.

Results

Religiosity, perceiving their children as susceptible to HPV, and perceived negative consequences of HPV infection were significant predictors of parents' intent to vaccinate. Physician specialty and whether or not physicians would vaccinate their own children were significant predictors of physicians' intent to encourage parents to vaccinate their children.

Conclusion

Campaigns aimed at increasing HPV vaccination should focus on educating parents about children's susceptibility to and the potential negative consequences of HPV infection. Furthermore, because there is now a significant body of evidence indicating that pediatricians and gynecologists have high intentions to encourage parents to vaccinate their children, the focus should be placed on strengthening the intentions of physicians in other specialties who serve children and their parents.

Section snippets

Introduction and Background

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that affects approximately 6.2 million Americans annually (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2007a); and adolescents are at especially high risk for HPV infection (Adams Hillard and Kahn, 2005, Moscicki, 2005). Furthermore, HPV is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection among teenage girls (Sullivan, 2008). In June 2006, the first HPV vaccine, Gardasil (Merck & Co., White House Station, NJ), was approved by the

Participants

To examine predictors of parents' and physicians' willingness to vaccinate for HPV, a sample size of 100 parents and 100 physicians were surveyed from a professional polling service (Gynesis Inc.) in Fall 2006, 4 months after Gardasil was FDA approved. The physician database from which the present sample was drawn (Epocrates Panel) consists of over 50,000 verified U.S. physicians who have opted to be contacted to complete surveys for monetary incentives. The polling service distributed an

Results

The parental sample consisted of 76 mothers and 24 fathers (Table 1). Seventy-five percent had at least one daughter between the ages of 7 and 17; 25% had only sons between the ages of 7 and 17. Fifty-one percent were aged 40 and older, 74% were married, and 90% were Caucasian. More than half (55%) had completed some college or less education, 60% had an income of $60,000 or less, 46% rarely or never attended religious services, and 44% reported being in the middle with regard to political

Discussion

Because of its potential for reducing the incidence of HPV-related cancers and genital infections, the ACOG, AAP, and other medical organizations strongly support routine HPV vaccination in young girls and are likely to support routine vaccination of boys assuming that the clinical trials currently underway demonstrate comparable efficacy rates and safety. Nonetheless, whether or not the public health benefits are fully realized depends in large part on whether physicians encourage parents to

Conclusion

The predictors identified in this study suggest that strategies aimed at encouraging parents to vaccinate their children should highlight children's susceptibility to HPV-related diseases and the negative consequences of HPV infection. For physicians, because there is now a significant body of evidence indicating that pediatricians and gynecologists have high intentions to encourage parents to vaccinate their children, the focus should be placed on strengthening the intentions of physicians in

Jessica L. Barnack is conducting research in the area of cancer disparities as a postdoctoral fellow at San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego.

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    Jessica L. Barnack is conducting research in the area of cancer disparities as a postdoctoral fellow at San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego.

    Diane Reddy, Professor and Director of Health Psychology, has authored over 25 scientific articles on women's health and edited Psychological Perspectives on Women's Health, which is regarded as a comprehensive scholarly resource for research on important topics in women's health.

    Carolyne Swain is President of the Midwestern Professional Research and Educational Services, Inc., which is a non-profit organization that provides training to family planning clinics.

    This research was conducted at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, and was funded by the Midwestern Professional Research and Educational Services, Milwaukee, WI.

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