Measuring North Carolina pharmacists' support for expanded authority to administer human papillomavirus vaccines

To assess North Carolina pharmacists' level of support for expanded authority to administer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to identify concerns/benefits about expanded authority and to understand what factors predict support for expanded authority.

A 16-item electronic survey was e-mailed to all the pharmacists registered with the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy (n = 9502) between January and February 2011 (1600 pharmacists responded). The survey assessed HPV knowledge, level of support for expanded authority, and comfort level of HPV vaccine administration.

Many (64%) pharmacists were supportive of a rule change/legislation that would authorize pharmacists to administer HPV vaccines. Younger pharmacists were more supportive of expansion when compared to older pharmacists (r = -.138, P < .001). Pharmacists with higher knowledge scores were more supportive of expansion (r = .223, P < .001). Reporting a higher level of comfort in administering HPV vaccines at their pharmacy was significantly and positively correlated with higher level of support for expansion (r = .624, P < .001). In the multivariate analysis, HPV knowledge, comfort level in administering vaccine, patient age, and type of pharmacy were all predictive of higher level of support for expanded authority where employed.

A large proportion of pharmacists were supportive of an expanded role in providing HPV vaccines. Exploring alternate delivery mechanisms like this one is advantageous.