HPV Risk Perceptions and Barriers to the Gardasil Vaccine: A Qualitative Analysis of Mothers, Girls and Health Care Professionals

Sexually active girls are at higher risk (than older adults) for acquiring sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including the genital human papillomavirus (HPV). Although most people who become infected with HPV will not have any symptoms and will clear the infection on their own, others may develop life-threatening cancers of the cervix and other genital areas.i As a result, reducing the risk and preventing HPV in girls is of great public health concern. Since 2006, Gardasil® has been FDA approved as an HPV vaccine for girls ages nine to 26 (FDA 2006). This vaccine protects females from the four types of HPV that cause most cervical cancers and genital warts. Nonetheless, not all girls are being vaccinated against HPV and not all parents or doctors support this recommendation. This proposed project seeks to understand the ways HPV vaccination is perceived by parents of girls, girls themselves, and pediatricians – the primary care providers of young women – in an effort to better meet the health care needs of U.S. Adolescent girls.