title: Assessing the need for and acceptability of a free-of-charge postpartum HPV vaccination program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake rate among young adult US women was only 23% in 2010. One way to improve this low rate is to administer the vaccine postpartum. We examined whether this population requires vaccination and whether they would be agreeable to receiving it free of charge after delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women 26 years of age or younger seeking prenatal care in publicly funded clinics in southeast Texas were interviewed in 2012 regarding their HPV vaccination status, barriers to vaccination, and whether they would be willing to receive this vaccine postpartum if offered free of charge. Medical charts were reviewed to extract additional information.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 13.0% (65 of 500) stated they had initiated and 7.6% (38 of 500) completed the 3-dose vaccine series. Ethnic differences were noted with 21.0% of non-Hispanic whites, 14.6% of blacks, and 9.3% of Hispanics (P = .002) initiating the vaccine and 13.5%, 7.8%, and 5.2% (P = .006) competing all 3 doses, respectively. Lowest initiation (4.2%) and completion (1.4%) rates were observed among recently immigrated Hispanic women. Those who had not graduated from high school and older women were less likely to have been vaccinated. Almost 83% of those who had not received any HPV doses or completed the series were willing to receive the injection free of charge in the hospital after their delivery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HPV vaccine uptake rates are very low among women receiving prenatal care in southeast Texas. Offering this vaccine free of charge to postpartum women could be an effective strategy in this population because 5 of 6 women favored receiving it in this setting.
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX. Electronic address: abberens@utmb.edu.
authors.forename: Abbey B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Berenson
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
authors.forename: Eneida
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Male
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
authors.forename: Toy G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Sealy Center for Vaccine Development, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
authors.forename: Kwabena O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Sarpong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Rupp
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
authors.forename: Mahbubur
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines
keywords: HPV; correlates; human papillomavirus; postpartum; race/ethnicity; vaccine