Association between Sexual Activity and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Initiation and Completion among College Students.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Adjei Boakye, Eric McKinney, Stacey L. Whittington, Kelli D. Boyer, Valerie E. Franca, Maria C. Lee, Minjee McKinnies, Richard C. Collins, Sandra K. Gerend, Mary A.
Editor	Plans-Rubió, Pedro
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	HPV vaccination is most effective if received before initiation of sexual activity. Previous studies suggested that young adult women who were not sexually active were not interested in receiving the vaccine because they did not think it was necessary. Whether this misperception is still prevalent today—and also shared by men—is unknown. This study examined whether sexual activity was associated with HPV vaccine uptake (initiation and completion) among university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and May 2021 among students (n = 951) at a public Midwestern University. Sexual activity was categorized as “never” or “ever” had oral and/or vaginal sex. Outcome variables were HPV vaccine initiation, defined as receipt of ≥1 dose, and completion, defined as receipt of ≥3 doses. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated the association between sexual activity and HPV vaccine uptake, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Approximately 18% of students reported never engaging in sexual activity. Overall, 45.5% initiated the HPV vaccine, and 16.5% completed the vaccine series. After adjusting for covariates, compared to students that reported never engaging in sexual activity, those that had ever engaged in sexual activity were more likely to have initiated the vaccine series (aOR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.34–3.17); however, no difference was observed for completion. HPV vaccination was low; sexually naïve students were less likely to initiate the HPV vaccine. Since sexually naïve students may benefit from receiving the HPV vaccination, targeted interventions should be implemented towards this population to help increase vaccination rates and prevent HPV-associated diseases.
Journal	Vaccines (Basel)
Volume Number	10
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9784235
Issue Number	12
PubMed reference number	36560489
e-ISSN	2076393X
DOI	10.3390/vaccines10122079
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Publisher Date	2022-12-05
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2022 by the authors.
Subject Keyword	HPV vaccine initiation and completion human papillomavirus vaccine coverage college students sexual behavior
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Drug Discovery Immunology Pharmacology Pharmacology (medical) Infectious Diseases