HPV Vaccination Uptake and Administration from 2006 to 2016 in a Commercially Insured Population of the United States

Abstract BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) infection can cause various HPV-related cancers and can be prevented through HPV vaccination. While vaccination coverage (proportion ever vaccinated) estimates are available, vaccination uptake (proportion getting their first vaccine dose in a specific year) in the United States (US) is not well-known. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of MarketScan® claims database to assess the HPV vaccination uptake in the US among the 9- to 26-years-olds from 2006 to 2016. The annual uptake was the ratio between the number of enrollees for whom a first record of an HPV vaccine was found during the year and the total number of unique enrollees of similar age and gender identified that year.ResultsUptake was below 1% among children turning 9 and 10 years old during the year. Since 2009 among female and since 2013 among males, annual uptake has been the highest in those turning 13 years old (19.7% among females and 17.6% among males in 2016). Catch-up vaccination among older adolescents and young adults increased after Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations, but eventually slowed down as more younger persons were vaccinated. Most young adolescents were vaccinated by pediatricians, whereas young adult women were predominantly vaccinated by obstetricians/gynecologists and young adult males by family physicians. While only about half of the adolescents had well-check visits, majority of those who initiated HPV vaccination had at least one well-check visit the same year.ConclusionUnderstanding HPV vaccination uptake can guide the development of appropriate interventions to help improve public health.