Participation in the Decision to Become Vaccinated Against Human Papillomavirus by California High School Girls and the Predictors of Vaccine Status

Abstract Background State and national policymakers are actively debating the merits of legally mandating the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Methods This was a cross-sectional pilot study designed to identify factors associated with HPV vaccination in 170 high school girls and the decision maki...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pediatric health care 2010, Vol.24 (1), p.14-24
Main Authors: Mathur, Maya B, Mathur, Vandana S., MD, Reichling, David B., PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Advanced Practice Nursing
Analysis of Variance
Cross-Sectional Studies
Decision Making
Dissent and Disputes
Educational Measurement
Female
Gardasil
health decisions
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Mandatory Programs
Nursing
Nursing Methodology Research
Papillomavirus Vaccines
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data
Patient Education as Topic
Patient Participation - psychology
Patient Participation - statistics & numerical data
Pediatrics
Pilot Projects
Psychology, Adolescent
San Francisco
Socioeconomic Factors
Students - psychology
Students - statistics & numerical data
teenagers
Vaccination - psychology
Vaccination - statistics & numerical data
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Summary:Abstract Background State and national policymakers are actively debating the merits of legally mandating the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Methods This was a cross-sectional pilot study designed to identify factors associated with HPV vaccination in 170 high school girls and the decision making by girls about vaccination. Results Overall, 48.4% participated in the vaccination decision making and 37.8% were vaccinated, but there were significant vaccine-related knowledge gaps. Girls often lacked basic knowledge necessary to make vaccine decisions. Vaccination was significantly associated with older age, vaccine information sources, and higher vaccine-related knowledge, but not with estimates of risk of HPV-related diseases, religion, or frequency of health care visits. Conclusions This paper describes the first study to have identified factors associated with HPV vaccination among California high school girls and to have documented that a high percentage are participating in the vaccination decision making. These findings have implications for adolescent health education and nursing practice and provide new information relevant to the current public policy debates about mandatory vaccination.
ISSN:0891-5245
1532-656X
DOI:10.1016/j.pedhc.2008.11.004