Interventions to increase uptake of the human papillomavirus vaccine in unvaccinated college students: A systematic literature review

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the best available evidence on interventions that could be implemented in the college environment to increase HPV vaccination uptake in college students who were not previously vaccinated. METHODS: Pubmed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and EBSCO were searched in December 2017 to identify all literature meeting the following criteria: human subjects, English language, HPV, HPV vaccination, and college. PRISMA recommendations were followed. We focused only on manuscripts that reported vaccine uptake, excluding studies that only reported vaccine intentions. We identified 2989 articles; 101 relevant after screening; nine eligible for final qualitative review. RESULTS: Vaccine uptake rates ranged from 5% to 53%. Theory-based variables (e.g., perceived susceptibility and self-efficacy) were associated with vaccine uptake in most studies. A study exposing participants to a narrative video about HPV vaccination led by a combination of peers and medical experts produced the greatest difference in HPV vaccination initiation compared to a control group (21.8% vs 11.8%) of all the studies reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: Few interventions resulted in substantial HPV vaccine uptake. A combination of peer and provider encouragement may be the most effective method to increase vaccine uptake in this population.