ArticlePredictors of Parents' Willingness to Vaccinate for Human Papillomavirus and Physicians' Intentions to Recommend the Vaccine
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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2022, Tourism ManagementCitation Excerpt :Gerend and Shepherd (2012) found a similar positive relationship between perceived protection benefits offered by the HPV vaccine and young adult women's intentions to take the vaccine. In this regard, the benefits of protection from a perceived threat may influence a person's receptiveness toward vaccine uptake, a relationship that has been found to hold in other vaccination contexts as well, such as parental acceptance of childhood vaccination coverage (Barnack et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2011). In their study of at-risk individuals resistant to the influenza vaccination, Cheney and John (2013) found that the perceived benefits of the vaccine, particularly the reduced threat to significant others, can be a pivotal determinant of these individuals' willingness to get vaccinated.
HPV Vaccine Promotion: The church as an agent of change
2021, Social Science and MedicineCitation Excerpt :Results show that parents who frequently attend church were more likely to have decided not to vaccinate their daughter rather than remain undecided (OR = 3.05, 95% CI = 1.41, 6.58) (Shelton et al., 2013). Two additional studies found comparable results of parents with higher rates of church attendance having greater vaccine hesitancy with less intent on having their adolescent child vaccinated against HPV (Barnack et al., 2010; Constantine and Jerman, 2007). Another qualitative study has shown that participants of other Christian religious denominations – such as Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists – have credited religion to be the strongest influence on sexual health and inseparable from their culture (DiStefano, 2012).
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.