Human papillomavirus vaccination completion rates among gynecological providers: an institutional retrospective review

Objective: The primary aim of this study is to assess and characterize correlates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series completion among young adult women evaluated by gynecological (GYN) providers at a single institution and to measure changes over 4-y period. Methods: At a major academic center, the medical records of 845 women administered the HPV vaccine series by a GYN provider were retrospectively reviewed from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2015. Patients were grouped based on the date of vaccine initiation into “earlier” (2006–2010) and “later” (2014–2015) cohorts. Patient demographics, dates of vaccine administration, and practice locations where vaccines were administered were collected. Patients who received all 3 vaccines within 6 months were deemed “complete”. Patients seen by a provider but did not receive the vaccination were deemed “missed opportunities”. The primary outcome was completion of HPV vaccination according to the ACIP guidelines. Results: The 845 patients were divided into earlier (n = 399) and later (n = 446) cohorts. There was no statistically significant difference in completion rates between the earlier-cohort compared to the later-cohort (35.2% vs. 30.9%, p = .20). Age at initiation were similar (p = .61), with the complete cohort having a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) than the incomplete cohort (p = .0015). There was a significant difference between the completion rates among race/ethnic groups (p = .036). African-American and Hispanic (18.9% and 20.0%, respectively, p = .04) patient-populations had the lowest completion rates and higher missed opportunities. Conclusion: Our study found an overall low completion rate in both earlier and later cohorts. Additionally, higher BMI and African-American and Hispanic race/ethnicity were associated with low vaccine completion.