Hepatitis A and B vaccination in a sexually transmitted disease clinic for men who have sex with men.

BACKGROUND

Sexually transmitted disease clinics can deliver hepatitis vaccines to men who have sex with men, but have been reluctant to do so because of perceived low vaccination completion rates.

GOAL

The goal was to evaluate hepatitis A and B vaccination eligibility, acceptance, and completion and the effectiveness of reminder/recall in a sexually transmitted disease clinic serving men who have sex with men.

DESIGN

Clients self-reported their eligibility for free vaccine. Consenting clients who accepted a first dose of vaccine were systematically assigned to receive telephone reminder/recall or standard follow-up.

RESULTS

Of 1203 clients, 71.8% were eligible for both vaccines; 62.6% of those eligible accepted both. Reminder/recall was associated with increased receipt of the second dose of hepatitis B vaccine (86.7% versus 80.4% among intervention and control groups, respectively), but not with completion of both vaccine series (55.9% versus 58.8%).

CONCLUSION

The majority of clients were eligible for both hepatitis vaccines, and most eligible clients accepted a first dose of both vaccines. Reminder/recall, as delivered at this clinic, failed to increase the proportion of clients who received all vaccine doses. New delivery mechanisms should be explored.