Potential acceptance of HPV vaccination at ages 9–10 in the United States among parents of HPV vaccine-naïve children

Abstract

This study explored attitudes/perceptions among parents who have not yet agreed to HPV vaccination for their 11-12-y-old children. US parents/guardians were recruited from a consumer panel for this online, cross-sectional survey. Parents (≥18 y) were eligible if their oldest child was 11-12, participated in their child's vaccine decisions/visit, had not decided on, or would refuse the HPV vaccine, and understood English. Parents were excluded if their child had medical conditions affecting eligibility for HPV vaccination or if they declined to provide consent. Sampling quotas were used for parent and child age, sex, and US region. Of 200 participants, half were undecided whether to accept HPV vaccination for their children and half planned to refuse (purposely targeted recruitment). Most participants were women (70%) and White (86%) with a mean age of 39 y. Significantly, more parents who planned to refuse reported delaying/refusing other vaccinations compared to undecided parents (57% vs 11%, p < .001). Undecided parents selected significantly different primary reasons for not vaccinating (p < .001); they were more concerned about side effects (42% vs 25%) and less worried it would encourage their children to be sexually active (9% vs 22%). Most parents in the undecided cohort reported they would definitely have accepted the HPV vaccination (52% vs 36%) if their child's provider had offered it when their child was younger, compared to parents who planned to refuse. Introducing HPV vaccine at an earlier age may be associated with increased parental acceptance specifically among those children who had not yet received HPV vaccination.