Recommending STI vaccination to parents of adolescents: the attitudes of nurse practitioners.

BACKGROUND

Future successful sexually transmitted infection (STI) vaccine programs will depend on health professionals' readiness to vaccinate adolescents.

GOAL

The goal was to examine nurse practitioners' willingness to recommend STI vaccines to parents of adolescent patients.

STUDY DESIGN

Participants rated 13 hypothetical vaccine scenarios, each of which was defined along 4 dimensions: infection; patient age, patient gender, and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorsement. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the relative contribution of each dimension to the ratings.

RESULTS

Generally, participants were amenable to recommending STI vaccines. Conjoint analysis indicated that AAP recommendation, infection, and patient age most strongly influenced ratings. There was particular interest in an HIV vaccine, but there was reluctance to vaccinate younger adolescents or to vaccinate without AAP endorsement.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse practitioners are willing to recommend STI vaccines to parents of adolescents. Professional organization endorsement plays an important role in this decision. Younger-aged adolescents were not viewed as candidates for these vaccines.