Influence of Gender and Gender-Specific Recommendations on Adolescent Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

Introduction The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was introduced for female adolescents prior to male adolescents. Understanding coverage patterns related to gender-specific recommendations and factors associated with early adoption and timely completion may be important for future vaccines. Methods Retrospective analysis of HPV vaccine initiation (one or more dose) and completion (three or more doses) patterns in adolescents aged 11−18 years using 2009−2013 New York Citywide Immunization Registry data. Log binomial models assessed patient-specific (age, insurance) and practice-specific (facility type, number of adolescents, poverty level) variables on early adoption (within 1 year of recommendation) and timely completion (within 12 months) by gender. Results Of 1,494,767 adolescents, 50.2% were male, 57.5% were vaccinated in private practices, 58.7% in practices with more adolescents, and 48.8% in highest poverty locations. More female (54.0%) than male (33.5%) adolescents initiated vaccination ( p p Conclusions Changing HPV vaccine recommendations had minimal cross-gender impact. Early adoption and timely completion patterns were mostly similar across genders.