Relationship between maternal experiences and adolescent HPV vaccination

Abstract

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been available for over a decade but its uptake rate is still low. To explore the relationship between the HPV vaccination status of a child and their mother's beliefs, behaviors and knowledge, we surveyed 1497 women with at least one child aged 9–17 y between September 2011 and November 2015. Physician recommendation was the most important factor associated with reported child vaccination status. Mothers who reported receiving a provider recommendation for the HPV vaccine were 32 times more likely to have a child who had been vaccinated compared with mothers who did not report provider recommendation (aOR) = 32.17; 95% CI: 21.77, 47.54). Knowing someone who had received the vaccine was also strongly associated with vaccination uptake (59% vs 12%, p