Parents' willingness to get human papillomavirus vaccination for their adolescent children at a pharmacy

Abstract

Pharmacies are promising alternative settings for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination because of their accessibility and existing infrastructure for vaccine delivery. We sought to examine parents’ willingness to get HPV vaccination for their children at pharmacies. In 2014, we conducted a national, online survey of 1,255 parents of 11- to 17-year-old adolescents in the United States. Parents reported whether they would be willing to get HPV vaccine for their children at a pharmacy. We used multivariable logistic regression to model willingness for getting HPV vaccinations in pharmacies. Overall, 29% of parents would be willing to get HPV vaccine for their children at a pharmacy. Parental willingness was associated with believing that pharmacists are skilled at administering vaccines (OR=2.05, 95% CI:1.68–2.51), HPV vaccine was at least as important as other adolescent vaccines (OR=1.48, 95% CI:1.10–1.98), and getting vaccines in pharmacies would give children more opportunities to get health care (OR=2.17, 95% CI:1.63–2.89). Parental willingness was also more common among parents of adolescents ages 13–17 or who had already initiated the HPV vaccine series. Parents most often indicated that they would like to learn about HPV vaccination in pharmacies from their children’s doctor (37%). Offering HPV vaccine in pharmacies may increase uptake as a meaningful number of parents would get the vaccine for their children in these settings. Physician referrals for completing the HPV vaccine series may serve as an important source for increasing awareness of and demand for adolescent vaccination services in pharmacies.

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“…These high rates of coverage have produced population‐level reductions in HPV infections, and the sharpest declines in HPV‐associated outcomes have occurred in countries with school‐based vaccination delivery . Although access to HPV vaccination in the United States is nearly exclusively limited to the clinical setting, local pharmacist‐led HPV vaccination efforts and school‐located vaccination programs have been shown to be effective in this country and could help improve vaccine coverage rates if implemented more broadly.…”

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“…The federally funded Vaccines for Children program provides free vaccines for low-income children. 19,[56][57][58] A considerable proportion of parents report a willingness to have their children receive HPVV in nontraditional settings. 18,46,47 For privately insured adolescents, the current Affordable Care Act requires that most insurers cover HPVV without cost sharing; the influence of this provision on HPVV rates among adolescents has not been examined, although it may be related to recent vaccination increases in rates among women aged 18 to 25 years.…”

“…45 Approximately 50% of children younger than 19 years are eligible to receive vaccines through Vaccines for Children, and this program likely contributes to the counterintuitive higher HPVV utilization rate in Medicaid-insured adolescents versus privately insured adolescents in our study as well as others. 56,59 However, barriers remain. 48 State-based school-entry requirements for other vaccines (eg, diphtheria and varicella) have been effective in achieving high (~95%) vaccination rates for these respective diseases, although such requirements for HPVV are controversial; parental support is ambiguous, and a positive impact on HPVV utilization has yet to be seen.…”

“…8,55 An additional recommended strategy for improving HPVV rates is to expand access to vaccines outside Cancer December 15, 2018 the medical home, including schools, health department clinics, pharmacies, and urgent-care settings. 19,[56][57][58] A considerable proportion of parents report a willingness to have their children receive HPVV in nontraditional settings. 56,59 However, barriers remain.…”

“…19,[56][57][58] A considerable proportion of parents report a willingness to have their children receive HPVV in nontraditional settings. 56,59 However, barriers remain. For example, one challenge of administering HPVV in pharmacies is restrictive policies; some states do not allow pharmacists to provide HPVV to people younger than 19 years, and others require a prescription from a physician.…”