Statewide HPV vaccine initiation among adolescent females in North Carolina.
BACKGROUND
Cervical cancer incidence in the United States may be greatly reduced through widespread human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. We estimated the statewide level of HPV vaccine initiation among adolescent girls in North Carolina and identified correlates of vaccine initiation.


METHODS
We used data from 617 parents of adolescent females from North Carolina who completed the population-based 2008 Child Health Assessment and Monitoring Program survey. Analyses used weighted multivariate logistic regression.


RESULTS
Overall, 31.3% of parents reported their daughters had received at least 1 dose of HPV vaccine. Vaccine initiation was higher among daughters aged 13 to 15 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.03, 95% CI, 1.12-3.67) or 16 to 17 years (OR = 3.21, 95% CI, 1.76-5.86) compared with those 10 to 12 years old. Additional correlates of HPV vaccine initiation included the daughter having a preventive check-up in the last 12 months (OR = 5.09, 95% CI, 2.43-10.67), having received meningococcal vaccine (OR = 2.50, 95% CI, 1.55-4.01), or being from an urban area (OR = 1.81, 95% CI, 1.02-3.21). Among parents of unvaccinated daughters, intent to vaccinate in the next year was higher among those with daughters aged 13 to 17 years. Parents of unvaccinated non-Hispanic white daughters reported lower levels of intent to vaccinate within the next year compared with parents of unvaccinated daughters of other races.


CONCLUSIONS
HPV vaccine initiation in North Carolina is comparable with other US areas. Potential strategies for increasing HPV vaccination levels include reducing missed opportunities for HPV vaccination at preventive check-ups and increasing concomitant administration of HPV vaccine with other adolescent vaccines.
Reiter
Paul L
PL
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. preiter@email.unc.edu
Cates
Joan R
JR
McRee
Annie-Laurie
AL
Gottlieb
Sami L
SL
Shafer
Autumn
A
Smith
Jennifer S
JS
Brewer
Noel T
NT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D009657:North Carolina; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010290:Parents; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines