Vietnamese Health Care Providers' Preferences Regarding Recommendation of HPV Vaccines

Abstract

Physician recommendation is an important predictor of HPV vaccine acceptance; however, physician willingness and preferences regarding HPV vaccination may be influenced by factors including patient age, vaccine type, and cost. A cross-sectional survey was administered to a convenience sample of health care providers in Da Nang, Vietnam, to evaluate awareness, perceptions about HPV and HPV vaccines, and willingness to vaccinate a female patient. Willingness to vaccinate was evaluated using a full-factorial presentation of scenarios featuring the following factors: vaccine cost (free vs 1,000,000 VND), patient age (12, 16, or 22 years), and HPV vaccine type (bivalent vs quadrivalent). Responses from 244 providers were analyzed; providers had a mean age of 34 ± 11.9 years; a majority were female, married, and had children of their own. Thirty-six percent specialized in obstetrics/gynecology and 24% were providers in family medicine. Of the three factors considered in conjoint analysis, vaccine cost was the most important factor in willingness to vaccinate, followed by patient age, and vaccine type. The most favorable scenario for vaccinating a female patient was when the vaccine was free, the patient was 22 years of age, and the HPV4 vaccine was described. In multivariable analysis, older age, being a physician, being married, and having children were all associated with increased willingness to recommend HPV vaccination (p<0.05). Provider willingness is an important aspect of successful HPV vaccination programs; identifying preferences and biases in recommendation patterns will highlight potential areas for education and intervention.

Parent, provider and vaccinee preferences for HPV vaccination: A systematic review of discrete choice experiments

“…Most studies (n = 8) were conducted in HICs, namely the USA (n = 3) [24][25][26], Hong Kong (n = 1) [27], the Netherlands (n = 3) [28][29][30] and Canada (n = 1) [31]. The remaining studies from LMICs were conducted in Vietnam (n = 2) [32,33], Thailand (n = 1) [34] and Ethiopia (n = 1) [35]. Almost all studies were published between the years 2010 and 2018, apart from the study of Raley et al which was published in 2004 [26].…”

“…nurses, physicians, etc.) [26,33] including fellows of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) [26] and selfidentified healthcare providers in a broader sense [33].…”

Acceptability of two- versus three-dose human papillomavirus vaccination schedule among providers and mothers of adolescent girls: a mixed-methods study in five countries

“…Previous studies have evaluated HPV vaccination acceptability in parents of eligible adolescents and health care providers [5,20–23]. However, to our knowledge, no research study has assessed provider and maternal perceptions of a 2-versus 3-dose HPV vaccination schedule across countries using a standardized questionnaire.…”

HPV Vaccination Recommendation Practices among Adolescent Health Care Providers in 5 Countries

“…Similarly, cost was the most important consideration in willingness to vaccinate among health care providers in Vietnam, which does not have a routine HPV immunization program. 32 Over a third (59/151) of providers in our study cited free, low-cost, or publicly available vaccination, and more data on vaccination safety (52/151) as factors that would facilitate vaccination recommendation. South Korea has already moved to address cost by including HPV vaccination in the National Immunization Program since 2016 and offering 2 doses of either the bivalent and quadrivalent vaccine for free to girls and boys younger than the age of 12 years.…”