Making Effective Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Recommendations

Making Effective HPV Vaccine Recommendations

Coverage of HPV vaccination among US teens is low, far below Healthy People 2020 goals. A central reason for low coverage is infrequent and inadequate healthcare provider recommendation of HPV vaccine. The proposed intervention aims to train clinicians to provide effective recommendations for the vaccine using participatory or efficient communication strategies.

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of two communication trainings to increase HPV vaccination coverage among adolescent patients. We will compare HPV vaccination for pediatric and family medicine clinics receiving a participatory communication training, efficient communication training, or no training. Ten clinics will be randomly assigned to each study arm for a total of 30 clinics. The primary outcome of this study is to compare the change in clinics' levels of HPV vaccination initiation coverage among 11-12 year old adolescent patients from baseline to 6 month follow-up. Secondarily, we will compare the change in HPV vaccination initiation coverage in 13-17 year old adolescents.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Eligible clinics are pediatric and family medicine practice clinics located within a 2-hour driving distance of Chapel Hill, NC, and have 100 or more 11-12 year old patients with active records in the NCIR. Clinics must have at least one pediatric or family medicine physician who provides HPV vaccine to adolescents ages 11-12.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Ineligible clinics include those that have participated in a quality improvement study to increase HPV vaccination rates in the last 6 months or plan to participate in such a study in the next 6 months.