Elsevier

Vaccine

Volume 35, Issue 20, 9 May 2017, Pages 2613-2616
Vaccine

Short communication
Physicians’ current use and preferences for male HPV vaccine-related patient education materials

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.03.098Get rights and content

Abstract

Understanding physician preferences for educational materials to support male HPV vaccination is critical to improving vaccine uptake. Pediatric (Peds) and Family Medicine (FM) physicians in Florida completed a survey from May-August 2014 assessing current use of male-specific HPV vaccination patient education materials, and preferences for materials to increase HPV vaccination uptake. Peds and FM responses were compared with chi-squared or nonparametric tests. Most participants were FM (53.2%), White (66.6%), non-Hispanic (74.1%), and provided male patients/parents with HPV educational materials (59.1%). More than half (55.5%) provided a CDC factsheet for parents. Peds were more likely to indicate they provide educational materials (p < 0.0001) than FM. The preferred source was the CDC (77.8%). Peds preferred using a factsheet as the medium of information more often than FM (85.6% vs. 68.0%; p < 0.0001). When asked about preferences for targeted materials, 74.8% of providers indicated they would prefer materials targeted towards patients, 63.2% preferred information targeted towards parents, and 20.7% indicated they prefer non-targeted materials. Future research should focus on the development and testing of new HPV vaccine-specific materials and communication strategies for Peds and FM physicians.

Introduction

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) currently recommends routine human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of all males ages 11–12 years, catch-up vaccination for males ages 13–21 years, and vaccination for men who have sex with men ages 22–26 [1]. However, in 2015, HPV vaccine initiation rates for males aged 13–17 was approximately 49.8% nationally and 45.3% in Florida. Three-dose series completion for males in this group was 28.1% nationally and 19.8% in Florida [2]. While 2015 vaccination rates are higher than in 2014, the gap between male vaccination rates in Florida and the national average increased [3]. Provider recommendation is critical to vaccine uptake [4], [5], [6]. Some studies suggest that adequate, clear, and accessible information for parents may enhance acceptance of a provider’s recommendation and improve confidence and trust in the system [7], [8], [9]. However, little is known about physicians’ current use of or preferences for educational materials regarding HPV vaccination. As part of a larger study of physician recommendation of HPV vaccination for males, this sub-study used survey data from Pediatric (Ped) and Family Medicine (FM) physicians in Florida to assess: (1) current use of educational materials regarding male HPV vaccination, and (2) preferences for HPV vaccination patient educational materials.

Section snippets

Methods

Participant recruitment and the survey are detailed elsewhere [10], [11] and briefly summarized below.

Sample description

As shown in Table 1, 46.8% (n = 154) of participants were Peds and 53.2% (n = 175) were FM physicians. The majority identified as White (66.6%) and non-Hispanic (74.1%). Almost half (47.7%) were VFC providers and were in practice an average of 17.1 years (range: 0–38 years). Table 2 provides the exact wording, response options, and results for current use of and preferences for educational materials.

Current use of educational materials for males

Overall, most (59.1%) reported providing their male patients/parents of male patients with HPV

Discussion

Over three-quarters of physicians in our study indicated they preferred using a factsheet as a resource when talking to their male patients/parents of male patients about HPV vaccination. While this was the resource that was most preferred, recent systematic reviews examining ways to increase HPV vaccine uptake show studies that use factsheets alone do not facilitate an increase in HPV vaccination intent or uptake [12], [13] and therefore are not recommended to be used in isolation by the

Conclusions

Our findings show that Peds and FM physicians have different preferences for materials; therefore it may be beneficial to develop materials for each specialty. Future research should focus on the development of new materials and assessing their effectiveness, in combination with other effective strategies for Peds and FM physicians in order to increase HPV vaccine uptake.

Acknowledgments

This research was approved by the institutional review board (protocol #17655) and supported by funding from the Bankhead-Coley Cancer Research Program (4BB10). This work was also supported in part by the Biostatistics Core at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, an NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Center (P30-CA076292). MLK is supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (R25-CA090314) and the Center for Research in Infection and Cancer (

References (20)

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