Overcoming Barriers to Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

Introduction Despite the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine's ability to help prevent certain types of cancer, rates of vaccination against HPV remain low, and choosing to have a child receive the HPV vaccine has become a controversial topic. The primary objective of this quality improvement project was to increase HPV vaccination rates through creating and distributing an all-in-one education and reminder system to pediatric clinic patients and their families once patients are eligible to receive the HPV vaccination. Methods Three barriers to increasing rates of HPV vaccination were identified: cost, lack of knowledge, and lack of provider recommendation. A flyer system was implemented that addressed these barriers. This flyer was given to all patients ages 11–18 years, with a strong verbal provider recommendation. Results One-sample proportion tests were run to determine significance in the differing series completion rates in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The pediatric clinic's HPV vaccination series completion rates increased significantly from 2018 to 2019. During the implementation of this flyer system, which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination series completion rates decreased, but this decrease was not statistically significant. Discussion As control is gained over the pandemic, it is anticipated that regular provider visits will increase back to normal and therefore vaccination rates will recover as well. The findings from this study can be used to create or modify current practices in clinics anywhere that the HPV vaccination is administered. Future studies and trials should be implemented for a longer period, and not during a pandemic, ideally to yield more statistically significant results.