Many doctors are talking to parents about the HPV vaccine in a way that actually makes them less likely to get their kids vaccinated, according to a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Researchers at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill assessed responses pediatricians and family physicians voluntarily provided to a national online survey. They rated the responses for five communication factors: whether the doctors told parents the vaccine was “very” or “extremely” important, whether they recommended the vaccine by ages 11–12 for boys and for girls, whether they recommended it routinely or just to those whom they deemed “high risk”, and whether they recommend the vaccine happen the same day as the appointment (which dramatically increases chances of vaccination).
The results are not encouraging. About half of physicians reported two or more practices likely to discourage timely HPV vaccination. Twenty-seven percent of physicians said that they did not “strongly endorse” the vaccine. Forty-four percent did not recommend same-day vaccines, and a whopping 59 percent recommended the vaccine only to kids whom they deemed “at risk.”
The study’s lead author, Melissa B. Gilkey, PhD, said that the results surprised her.
“We are currently missing many opportunities to protect today’s young people from future HPV-related cancers,” Gilkey said in a press release from the American Association for Cancer Research. “Helping providers communicate about the HPV vaccine effectively is a promising strategy for getting more adolescents vaccinated.”
The rate of HPV vaccination in the U.S. hovers around 30 percent — far below that of other countries. There are a few reasons for the United States’ lagging vaccination rates, including the misconception of the HPV vaccine as an STD treatment rather than a vaccine to prevent cancer, and a persistent — and disproven — myth linking HPV vaccination to increased sexuality. There is also harmful fear-mongering and suspicions of negative side effects, though the CDC has deemed the shots safe and effective.
This new research suggests another way to raise the HPV vaccination rate: Clear, strong communication from doctors about the importance of the vaccine for all pre-teen boys and girls, as recommended by the CDC. Prior studies have also confirmed that how doctors frame conversations with parents about vaccines has a significant impact on whether kids receive them.
Nearly all sexually active Americans will get HPV at some point in their lives, and while most people never know they have it, certain strains can lead to can lead to cancers of the cervix, throat, or anus. By preventing against the most dangerous strains of the virus, the HPV vaccine can dramatically lower the risk of these cancers. It is important for both men and women — for while cervical cancers in women can be detected early with regular Pap smears, there’s no way to screen men for the neck and throat cancers that HPV can cause.
Even the current low rate of vaccination has cut teen HPV rates in half. Public health officials want push for 80 percent of eligible girls to be vaccinated by the next decade. To achieve that goal, this research makes it clear that doctors must be part of that effort.