Vaccines have been used for a long time in the prevention of many kinds of sicknesses, and vaccination rates have been high. However, use rates for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine have been low, and the reason for this is actually surprising-doctors.
"The single biggest barrier to increasing HPV vaccination is not receiving a health care provider's recommendation," lead study author Melissa Gilkey, an assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School, told NPR.
Gilkey explained that doctors are a bigger issue than parents when it comes to making the decision to administer the HPV vaccine to teens.
According to a press release, the study, published in the American Association for Cancer Research journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, aimed to assess how physicians recommend HPV vaccination.
The researchers, as per United Press International, conducted a national survey involving 776 doctors. Multiple aspects were assessed: quality of strength of vaccine endorsement; timeliness of vaccination; consistency of recommendations; and urgency of vaccination.
The researchers were surprised to find that across the country, 27 percent of physicians reported that they do not strongly endorse the vaccine, while 26 and 39 percent of physicians reported that they provide it, but not in a timely manner, for girls and boys respectively.
Overall, only 59 percent of physicians reported recommending the vaccine based on their own assessment of risk for contracting the virus, and only 51 percent reported suggesting the vaccine be given the same time it was recommended.
"We were surprised that physicians so often reported recommending HPV vaccination inconsistently, behind schedule, or without urgency. Of the five communication practices we assessed, about half of physicians reported two or more practices that likely discourage timely HPV vaccination," Gilkey said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV vaccination is important against HPV infections, which can cause cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, penile, or head and neck cancers. About one in four people in the U.S. are infected, and about 14 million are infected with it every year. This staggering number includes teens.
The CDC recommends that the vaccine be given to preteen girls and boys aged 11 and 12, so that they will be protected by it.
"We are currently missing many opportunities to protect today's young people from future HPV-related cancers," Gilkey explained. "Helping providers communicate about the HPV vaccine effectively is a promising strategy for getting more adolescents vaccinated."
"Physicians have a lot of influence on whether adolescents receive the HPV vaccine," Gilkey added.
