Abstract
In the United States (US), acceptance of adolescent vaccines, as measured by vaccine uptake in adolescents, is high amongst caregivers. However, this does not routinely extend to Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. In the US state of Georgia, HPV vaccine coverage rates remain suboptimal, especially when compared to other adolescent vaccines. Our study aims to identify and examine caregivers’ motivators and barriers towards vaccinating their adolescents against HPV. We conducted nine focus groups with caregivers (n = 75) throughout the state. Using MAXQDA for thematic analysis, we identified common motivators and barriers related to adolescent HPV vaccine uptake amongst caregivers. Barriers reported include caregivers’ inability to develop a trusting patient-provider relationship and HPV vaccine message framing issues. Motivators reported include caregivers’ intrinsic need to protect their adolescents and trust their healthcare provider. Trust in healthcare providers was a key theme identified towards mitigating barriers and reinforcing motivators related to HPV vaccine acceptance and uptake. By improving patient-provider relationships throughout Georgia and streamlining digestible, representative vaccine information sharing across reputable sources, caregivers may become more receptive to vaccinating their adolescents.
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Data Availability
The data sets used and analyzed during the study are available by the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors express sincere gratitude to focus group discussion participants involved in the research project and to the regional cancer coalitions and stakeholders who assisted in the organization for and planning of focus group discussions throughout the state. The Winship Cancer Institute’s Intervention Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Shared Resource (IDDI) supported revisions of the study tools used in data collection which we are immensely grateful for. Research reported in this ublication was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute’s P30 Administrative Supplement to Designated Cancer Centers through Award Number P30CA138292. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute.
Funding
This research was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) P30 Supplement funding program under Award Number P30CA138292. The National Cancer Institute had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, preparation of the manuscript, and decision to publish.
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RAB: Conceptualization, ARK: Administration, ARK: Methodology, WB: Formal analysis, ARK: Investigation, WB: Writing—original draft preparation, WB, ARK, RAB: Writing—review and editing, RAB: Funding acquisition, ARK, RAB: Resources, ARK, RAB: Validation, RAB: Supervision.
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This study obtained approval from the Emory Institutional Review Board (eIRB).
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Appendix A: Moderator’s Guide
Appendix A: Moderator’s Guide
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Bairu, W., King, A.R. & Bednarczyk, R.A. Caregivers of Adolescents’ Motivators and Barriers to Vaccinating Children Against Human Papillomavirus. J Primary Prevent 43, 407–420 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-022-00674-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-022-00674-3