Enrolling a rural community pharmacy as a Vaccines for Children provider to increase HPV vaccination: a feasibility study

BMC Public Health

Tamera Coyne-Beasley¹  Stacie Turberville²  Macy Vickers²  Anna Wright²  Casey L. Daniel²  Chelsea Green²  Frances Lawson²  Hee Y. Lee³ 

[1] Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA;Division of Cancer Control and Prevention, Mitchell Cancer Institute, University of South Alabama, 1660 Springhill Avenue, 36604, Mobile, AL, USA;School of Social Work, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA;

关键词: HPV;    Human papillomavirus;    Vaccination;    Cancer;    Prevention;    Pharmacy;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-11304-8

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. with over 80 million infected individuals. High-risk strains are associated with 6 different cancers. Although infection is preventable, U.S. vaccination rates remain suboptimal and there are noted disparities between urban and rural communities due to economic barriers, lack of access, and low awareness and education.MethodsThe current pilot study sought to overcome these barriers through an interprofessional collaborative enrolling a community pharmacy in a rural, medically underserved Alabama county as a Vaccines for Children (VFC) provider to provide free vaccines to eligible adolescents. Program evaluation was conducted to determine the intervention’s feasibility. Potential efficacy was assessed by analyzing county-level HPV vaccination uptake and completion rates using state immunization registry data.ResultsOver the 8-month study, 166 total vaccines were administered to 89 adolescents ages 10–18, including 55 doses of HPV vaccine, 53 doses of Tdap vaccine, 45 doses of meningococcal vaccine, and 13 doses of influenza vaccine. Among these adolescents, mean age was 12.6 years old, and 64 (71.9%) were VFC patients. The pharmacy recorded an increase in total vaccine administration of 158.8%, an increase in prescription revenue of 34.8%, and an increase in total revenue by 24.4% during the course of the study, compared to the previous year.ConclusionsFindings from the current work demonstrate the potential of this strategy and can serve as a blueprint for statewide and national dissemination and implementation to ultimately increase access to vaccination services, increase vaccination rates, and reduce urban-rural vaccine disparities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY