Public Education Interventions and Uptake of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Systematic Review

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake remains suboptimal in the United States. Public education is considered an important aspect of increasing vaccination rates.

We systematically reviewed the literature on the impact of public education on HPV vaccine uptake.

PubMed was searched to identify studies published between January 1, 2007, and April 30, 2018, meeting the following inclusion criteria: the study was conducted in the US, education was directed toward the public, and the research included HPV vaccine uptake and/or completion as outcomes.

A total of 3764 studies were screened, and 30 published studies were included in the review. Among those, 13 focused on parent/guardian education, 8 on young adults, 6 on parent/daughter dyads, 1 focused only on adolescents, and 2 studies recruited a mixed-age population. Studies that included parents and young adults and were delivered by experts led to increased uptake of HPV vaccination (n = 14). A majority of the studies included female and Non-Hispanic White population (n = 20). Less than a third of studies included minority groups: Hispanic (n = 4), African American (n = 1), Cambodian American (n = 1), Indian American (n = 1), Korean American (n = 1), and combined Haitian and African American (n = 1) population. Minority group interventions that provided individually tailored messages, addressed misconceptions, removed barriers to vaccination, and engaged parents and community members improved HPV vaccine acceptance (n = 5).

Interventions that delivered HPV-related education by authoritative sources and included parents improved HPV vaccination rates among adolescents and young adults. Community engagement played an important role in vaccine uptake among minority populations. Future studies should focus on male participants and minority populations to reduce disparities in HPV-related cancer incidence and HPV vaccine coverage.