Examining HPV Vaccination Practices and Differences Among Providers in Virginia.
Héctor E Alcalá, George Larry Maxwell, Brianna Lindsay, Jessica Keim-Malpass, Emma M Mitchell, Rajesh Balkrishnan
Author Information
Héctor E Alcalá: Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine; Program in Public Health, Stony Brook University, 101 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA. hectorapm@ucla.edu. ORCID
George Larry Maxwell: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, Falls Church, VA, USA.
Brianna Lindsay: Merck and Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.
Jessica Keim-Malpass: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Emma M Mitchell: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Rajesh Balkrishnan: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Virginia has some of the lowest HPV vaccination rates, despite being one of the few states in the USA requiring adolescent girls receive the vaccine. Provider characteristics may be an important factor in HPV vaccination. Thus, the present study assessed provider vaccination, practices, knowledge about the vaccine, and confidence in performing behaviors related to the vaccine. We conducted a cross-sectional electronic survey in a large health care system in Northern Virginia. A total of 53 responses were received. Only respondents who reported seeing adolescent patients were included in analyses (N = 42). Differences in responses were examined by provider age, gender, and type. Respondents reported recommending the vaccine a high percent of the time to eligible patients and had overall high levels of knowledge and confidence. Male providers recommended the vaccine to boys ages 11-12, less frequently than female providers. Providers age 50 and over recommended the vaccine to boys ages 11-12 less frequently than younger providers. This study shows that there are some gaps in HPV vaccine recommendation practices among providers. These gaps may be one reason for the low uptake of the HPV vaccine among adolescents. Thus, educational and training interventions of providers could be considered.
