- Title
- Factors related to vaccine uptake by young adult women in the catch-up phase of the National HPV Vaccination Program in Australia: results from an observational study
- Creator
- Canfell, Karen; Egger, Sam; Velentzis, Louiza S.; Brown, Jessica Darlington; O'Connell, Dianne L.; Banks, Emily; Sitas, Freddy
- Relation
- NHMRC.387701 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/387701
- Relation
- Vaccine Vol. 33, Issue 20, p. 2387-2394
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.01.024
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Background: Australia commenced a publically-funded, National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Program in 2007 with a two year catch-up phase for females aged 12-26 years. Objective: To identify the factors associated with the uptake of the HPV vaccine (which has a recommended 3-dose schedule in Australia) by young adult women vaccinated by general practitioners and community-based programs within the catch-up phase. Methods: 1139 women who were eligible to receive the free HPV vaccine during the catch-up period were recruited in 2008-2009 (age 20-29 years at recruitment), in New South Wales, after having a normal (negative) cervical smear result recorded on the NSW Pap Test Register. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire providing information on vaccination status, and sociodemographic and other factors. Results: Overall, 880 (77%) women reported receiving ≥1 dose of the vaccine and 777 women (68%) reported receiving ≥2 doses. In multivariable analysis (adjusting for the period for which each woman was eligible for free HPV vaccination), uptake of ≥1 dose of the vaccine was significantly associated with being born in Australia (p<. 0.01), being single (p= 0.02), being nulliparous (p<. 0.01), living in a higher socioeconomic status area (p-trend. = 0.03), living in more remote areas (p= 0.03), drinking alcohol (p<. 0.01) and using hormonal contraceptives (p<. 0.01). Although vaccinated women were more likely to have fewer sexual partners than unvaccinated women (p-trend. = 0.02), they were also more likely to report a prior sexually transmitted infection (STI) (p= 0.03). Similar factors were associated with receiving ≥2 doses. Conclusions: In this group, women living in higher socioeconomic status areas were more likely to be vaccinated against HPV in the catch-up phase of the national program. Although vaccinated women tended to have fewer sexual partners, they also reported prior STIs, which may be a marker of increased risk of prior exposure to HPV. The findings of this study reinforce the continuing need to prioritise equitable delivery of vaccination to various population subgroups.
- Subject
- HPV vaccine; sexual behaviour; inequality; cervical smears; socioeconomic status
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1338531
- Identifier
- uon:28048
- Identifier
- ISSN:0264-410X
- Language
- eng
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