Correlates of receiving recommended adolescent vaccines among adolescent females in North Carolina.

BACKGROUND

Immunization is a successful and cost-effective method for preventing disease, yet many adolescents do not receive recommended vaccines. We assessed correlates of uptake of three vaccines (tetanus booster, meningococcal, and human papillomavirus [HPV] vaccines) recommended for adolescent females. Methods. We examined cross-sectional data from 647 parents of 11-20 year-old females from North Carolina who completed the Carolina HPV Immunization Measurement and Evaluation (CHIME) Project follow-up survey in late 2008. Analyses used ordinal and binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

Only 17% of parents indicated their daughters had received all three vaccines. Eighty-seven percent of parents indicated their daughters had received tetanus booster vaccine, 36% reported vaccination against meningococcal disease, and 36% reported HPV vaccine initiation. Daughters aged 13-15 years (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.09-2.64) or 16-20 years (OR = 2.28, 95% CI: 1.51-3.44) had received a greater number of these vaccines compared to daughters aged 11-12 years. Daughters who had preventive care visits in the last year (OR = 4.81, 95% CI: 3.14-7.34) or whose parents had at least some college education (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.29-2.80) had also received a greater number of these vaccines.

CONCLUSIONS

Few daughters, particularly 11-12 years olds, had received all three vaccines recommended for adolescent females. Ensuring annual preventive care visits and increasing concomitant administration of adolescent vaccines may help increase vaccine coverage.