Girls More Likely to Get HPV Vaccine When Doctors Recommend It
Study Shows Importance of Doctors' Recommendation in Boosting HPV Vaccination Rates
Parents are used to taking babies and young children to the doctor for their immunizations, Dorell says, but "once you get to these teenage years, they're going to the doctor less frequently." And the fact that the HPV vaccine requires three trips to the doctor's office complicates matters, she says.
Dorell and co-researchers suggest that doctors schedule appointments for the second and third doses when parents bring their daughters in for the first and send out reminders for the upcoming visits.
Kristen Feemster, MD, agrees with Dorell about the importance of health care providers promoting HPV vaccination to parents. Feemster is an infectious disease specialist and health services researcher at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She was not involved in Dorell's study
"If you don't have a strong recommendation from your provider, and you have any doubts at all, you're going to be less likely to walk into the room and say, 'I want my child to have this,'" Feemster says.
One big difference between the HPV vaccine and other childhood vaccines is that it protects against a disease, cervical cancer, that doesn't affect children, Feemster notes. "It doesn't feel quite as imperative."
Girls More Likely to Get HPV Vaccine When Doctors Recommend It
Study Shows Importance of Doctors' Recommendation in Boosting HPV Vaccination Rates
Role of Parents continued...
Parents are used to taking babies and young children to the doctor for their immunizations, Dorell says, but "once you get to these teenage years, they're going to the doctor less frequently." And the fact that the HPV vaccine requires three trips to the doctor's office complicates matters, she says.
Dorell and co-researchers suggest that doctors schedule appointments for the second and third doses when parents bring their daughters in for the first and send out reminders for the upcoming visits.
Kristen Feemster, MD, agrees with Dorell about the importance of health care providers promoting HPV vaccination to parents. Feemster is an infectious disease specialist and health services researcher at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She was not involved in Dorell's study
"If you don't have a strong recommendation from your provider, and you have any doubts at all, you're going to be less likely to walk into the room and say, 'I want my child to have this,'" Feemster says.
One big difference between the HPV vaccine and other childhood vaccines is that it protects against a disease, cervical cancer, that doesn't affect children, Feemster notes. "It doesn't feel quite as imperative."
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