Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine education
Educational efforts inform adolescents, young adults, and parents with eligible children about HPV and its consequences, as well as the benefits of vaccinating against the disease. Education may be provided through in person presentations, videos, printed materials, online content, or through other media such as radio (Fu 2014). Education may be provided by public health professionals, community health workers, other trusted medical professionals, and peers. HPV vaccines protect against HPV and HPV-associated diseases, including some cancers. Vaccines are recommended for individuals ages 11-26 and are most effective in those who receive all doses and have no previous exposure to HPV (CDC MMWR-Meites 2019).
What could this strategy improve?
Expected Benefits
Our evidence rating is based on the likelihood of achieving these outcomes:
- Increased vaccination
Potential Benefits
Our evidence rating is not based on these outcomes, but these benefits may also be possible:
- Increased HIV and STI knowledge
- Reduced incidence of HPV
What does the research say about effectiveness? -+
There is insufficient evidence to determine whether educational efforts increase HPV vaccination rates (Niccolai 2015, Fu 2014). Though greater vaccine-related knowledge is associated with higher uptake (Kessels 2012) and available evidence indicates education can increase both HPV knowledge and vaccination intentions, overall the effect of education alone on vaccine behavior is minimal (Rodriguez 2019, Fu 2014). Additional evidence is needed to confirm effects.
Educational interventions may increase HPV knowledge and vaccination intentions among both young women (Gerend 2013, Krawczyk 2012, Kester 2014) and men (Krawczyk 2012) and across diverse populations (Niccolai 2015), including black men and women (Kester 2014, Teteh 2019), Korean women (Lee 2016c), and Latino and Korean parents (Valdez 2015). Interventions may have a greater impact on adolescents and young adults than on parents (Fu 2014). Peer-based education may increase knowledge among high school students (Castellanos 2018), and in college students when led by pharmacy students (Hayes 2019).
Most early studies did not attempt to reach marginalized populations (Fu 2014). Some small pilot studies suggest culturally tailored education may increase vaccine initiation in young gay and bisexual men (McRee 2018) and initiation and completion in the 9- to 12-year-old daughters of Hopi mothers (Winer 2016). A study among Kentucky Appalachian women indicated education after the first vaccine dose may increase compliance with the 3-dose series (Vanderpool 2013). Effects of individually tailoring education for university women are mixed (Gerend 2013, Bennett 2015).
Provider recommendation of the vaccine increases acceptability (Brewer 2007) and uptake (Kester 2013, Kessels 2012). Multi-faceted strategies which include components such as education, improved access to the vaccine, and reminders are more likely to increase vaccination initiation and completion (Rodriguez 2019).
There is no evidence that receipt of the HPV vaccine increases sexual risk behavior among adolescent girls and young women (Mayhew 2014, Rysavy 2014).
Implementation Resources -+
CDC-HPV information for clinicians - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination information for clinicians.
Citations -+
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Bennett 2015 - Bennett AT, Patel DA, Carlos RC, et al. Human papillomavirus vaccine uptake after a tailored, online educational intervention for female university students: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Women’s Health. 2015;24(11):950-957.
Brewer 2007* - Brewer NT, Fazekas KI. Predictors of HPV vaccine acceptability: A theory-informed, systematic review. Preventive Medicine. 2007;45(2-3):107-114.
Castellanos 2018* - Castellanos M, Odaimi T, Demissie S, Lee A, Farberov M. A new peer-to-peer educational model to increase knowledge and acceptability of HPV vaccination. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2018;62(2):S105-S106.
CDC MMWR-Meites 2019 - Meites E, Szilagyi PG, Chesson HW, et al. Human papillomavirus vaccination for adults: Updated recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 2019;68:698-702.
Fu 2014 - Fu L, Bonhomme L-A, Cooper SC, Joseph J, Zimet G. Educational interventions to increase HPV vaccination acceptance: A systematic review. Vaccine. 2014;32(11):1901-1920.
Gerend 2013* - Gerend MA, Shepherd MA, Lustria MLA. Increasing human papillomavirus vaccine acceptability by tailoring messages to young adult women’s perceived barriers. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2013;40(5):401-5.
Hayes 2019* - Hayes KN, Pan I, Kunkel A, McGivney MS, Thorpe CT. Evaluation of targeted human papillomavirus vaccination education among undergraduate college students. Journal of American College Health. 2019;67(8):781-789.
Kessels 2012* - Kessels SJ, Marshall HS, Watson M, et al. Factors associated with HPV vaccine uptake in teenage girls: A systematic review. Vaccine. 2012;30(24):3546-3556.
Kester 2013 - Kester LM, Zimet GD, Fortenberry JD, Kahn JA, Shew ML. A national study of HPV vaccination of adolescent girls: Rates, predictors, and reasons for non-vaccination. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 2013;17(5):879-885.
Kester 2014* - Kester LM, Shedd-Steele RB, Dotson-Roberts CA, Smith J, Zimet GD. The effects of a brief educational intervention on human papillomavirus knowledge and intention to initiate HPV vaccination in 18-26 year old young adults. Gynecologic Oncology. 2014;132(Suppl 1):S9-12.
Krawczyk 2012* - Krawczyk A, Lau E, Perez S, et al. How to inform: Comparing written and video education interventions to increase human papillomavirus knowledge and vaccination intentions in young adults. Journal of American College Health. 2012;60(4):316-22.
Lee 2016c - Lee HY, Koopmeiners JS, McHugh J, Raveis VH, Ahluwalia JS. MHealth pilot study: Text messaging intervention to promote HPV vaccination. American Journal of Health Behavior. 2016;40(1):67-76.
Mayhew 2014* - Mayhew A, Mullins TLK, Ding L, et al. Risk perceptions and subsequent sexual behaviors after HPV vaccination in adolescents. Pediatrics. 2014;133(3):404-411.
McRee 2018* - McRee A-L, Shoben AB, Reiter PL. Effects of a pilot randomized controlled trial of a web-based HPV vaccination intervention for young gay and bisexual men: The Outsmart HPV Project. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2018;62(2):S10.
Niccolai 2015 - Niccolai LM, Hansen CE. Practice-and community-based interventions to increase human papillomavirus vaccine coverage: A systematic review. JAMA Pediatrics. 2015;169(7):686-692.
Rodriguez 2019* - Rodriguez AM, Do TQN, Goodman M, et al. Human papillomavirus vaccine interventions in the U.S.: A systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2019;56(4):591-602.
Rysavy 2014* - Rysavy MB, Kresowik JD, Liu D, et al. Human papillomavirus vaccination and sexual behavior in young women. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. 2014;27(2):67-71.
Teteh 2019 - Teteh DK, Dawkins-Moultin L, Robinson C, et al. Use of community forums to increase knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer in African American communities. Journal of Community Health. 2019;44(3):492-499.
Valdez 2015 - Valdez A, Stewart SL, Tanjasari SP, Levy V, Garza A. Design and efficacy of a multilingual, multicultural HPV vaccine education intervention. Journal of Communication in Healthcare. 2015;8(2):106-118.
Vanderpool 2013 - Vanderpool RC, Cohen EL, Crosby RA, et al. “1-2-3 Pap” intervention improves HPV vaccine series completion among Appalachian women. Journal of Communication. 2013;63(1):95-115.
Winer 2016 - Winer R, Gonzales A, Noonan C, Buchwald D. A cluster-randomized trial to evaluate a mother-daughter dyadic educational intervention for increasing HPV vaccination coverage in American Indian girls. Journal of Community Health. 2016;41(2):274-281.