US oral health students' willingness to train and administer the HPV vaccine in dental practices

Abstract

HPV oropharyngeal cancers have now surpassed cervical cancer rates in the US. Dental providers' engagement in HPV education and vaccination efforts may help reduce the burden of HPV oropharyngeal cancers. We examined factors associated with oral health students' willingness to train and administer the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in dental settings. US students in 15 oral health programs participated in an online survey in 2016. Unadjusted and adjusted multivariable logistic regression were conducted and odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported. Analyses were conducted in SAS Version 9.4. Data from a total of N = 306 students were analyzed to examine sociodemographic, educational, practice, and attitudinal factors associated with willingness to train and administer the HPV vaccine. Majority of the participants were female (70.3%), non-Hispanic/Latino (90.8%), and White (62.1%). Perceiving that HPV vaccination recommendation (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.14–3.35) and administration (OR = 3.79, 95% CI = 1.63–8.81) was in the dental professional's scope was positively associated with outcome measures when other factors were held constant. Students with greater patient contact time (OR = 4.47, 95% CI = 1.14–17.58) and lower role conflict (agreed that HPV vaccine administration was in the dental professional's scope) had higher odds of willingness to administer the HPV vaccine when other factors were held constant (OR = 5.9, 95% CI = 2.27–15.3). The major barrier to engaging oral health students in HPV vaccination efforts was role conflict. Professional organizations and oral health programs should strongly support the role of oral health professionals in HPV oropharyngeal prevention.

Awareness and Knowledge Among Dental and Medical Undergraduate Students Regarding Human Papilloma Virus and Its Available Preventive Measures

“…Nearly 88% of the students correctly identified HPV as a risk factor for oropharyngeal cancer development, compared to only 9.39% in the present study [14]. Another study by Kepka et al revealed that up to 83.7% of oral health students believed that administering HPV knowledge and vaccination fell within the scope of practice of dental professionals, encouraging their participation in eradicating this virus [15].…”

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding HPV Vaccination among Undergraduate and Postgraduate Dental Students in Chennai

“…Percentage of response agreed vaccines were effective (~97%), significantly fewer dental students agreed they were safe [13]. Although one recent study found that further education and training would improve willingness of dental providers to discuss and recommend HPV vaccination, previous work from the same group found dental knowledge, awareness and willingness may be more malleable than established dental providers [14][15][16]. It was also found that the awareness among dental students was comparatively lesser than postgraduate students which may be due to the increased experience according to Mann et al ' [13].…”

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Knowledge, Awareness and Acceptance among Dental Students and Post-Graduate Dental Residents

“…The few previous studies that evaluated the awareness, knowledge and acceptance of HPV vaccination among dental students and post-graduate residents found deficiencies in both knowledge and awareness [15][16][17][18]. This study evaluated both dental student and post-graduate resident awareness, knowledge and acceptance of HPV vaccination during a curricular module devoted to immunization practices and HPV-specific vaccination and found noteworthy similarities and differences.…”

“…Moreover, the finding that nearly twice the percentage of dental students (approximately 20%) compared with dental residents (approximately 10%) agreed that some vaccines were dangerous may suggest that these concerns about vaccine safety, in general, may be more widespread and must be addressed within the dental school curriculum [23,24]. Although one recent study found that further education and training would improve willingness of dental providers to discuss and recommend HPV vaccination, previous work from the same group found dental student knowledge, awareness and willingness may be more malleable than established dental providers [17,18,25]. .…”

“…Few studies have evaluated the awareness, knowledge and acceptance of HPV vaccination among dental students and post-graduate residents [15,16]. The few studies to date that have evaluated dental students specifically, have found deficiencies in both knowledge and awareness that may be addressed through changes to the dental curriculum [17,18]. In fact, recent evidence has suggested that HPV-specific immunization training may be sufficient to increase student knowledge and increase the likelihood of recommending HPV immunization among dental hygiene students [19].…”