Clinician Misperceptions about the Importance of Adolescent HPV Vaccination

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.