HPV Vaccination Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Among Clinic Teams in North Texas

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine rates are low in the USA, with additional disparities noted in and within states such as Texas. To increase HPV vaccine uptake, healthcare providers and clinical team members are essential agents in promoting HPV vaccination to their patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of clinic team members, stratified by clinicians (i.e., physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) and non-clinician staff (i.e., nurses and medical assistants) in North Texas. Survey data were collected as part of a quality improvement project to improve HPV vaccination in a safety-net health system and federally qualified health center. Knowledge items were related to guidelines for HPV vaccination by patient age and the types of cancer the HPV vaccine can prevent. Attitudes were related to the importance of recommending the HPV vaccine and self-efficacy in making vaccine recommendations, and behavioral items included current recommendation behaviors and barriers to recommendations. Data were stratified by role, clinicians and non-clinicians, and were analyzed in SAS. Participants (n = 125) were knowledgeable, but significant differences were noted by the individual's role (p < 0.05). Participants differed in their knowledge of the cancers the HPV vaccine can prevent. Common barriers reported were parental vaccine hesitancy (70% clinicians, 45% non-clinicians) and parents lacking information (49% clinicians, 58% non-clinicians). Given that HPV vaccination requires a clinic team approach to promote uptake, identification of the knowledge, attitudes, and barriers among these clinical team members can guide the development of tailored education strategies to improve vaccine uptake.