Human Papillomavirus Vaccination and Sexual Behavior in Young Women

Abstract Study Objective To compare sexual attitudes and behaviors of young women who have received or declined the HPV vaccine. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics clinics at a large, Midwestern, academic health center. Participants 223 young women (ages 13-24): 153 who had received HPV vaccination and 70 with no prior HPV vaccination. Main Outcome Measures Sexual behaviors; attitudes toward sexual activity. Results Vaccinated young women were slightly but significantly younger than unvaccinated (mean age 19.2 vs 20.0). Both groups showed a large percentage of participants engaging in high-risk sexual behavior (75% vs 77%). The mean age at sexual debut was not significantly different between the groups (16.8 vs 17.0) nor was the average number of sexual partners (6.6 for both). Unvaccinated participants were more likely to have been pregnant (20% vs 8.6%, P = .016), although this difference was not significant in multivariate analysis CI [0.902-5.177]. Specific questions regarding high-risk sexual behaviors and attitudes revealed no significant differences between the groups. Conclusion We found that sexual behaviors, including high-risk behaviors, were similar between young women who had and had not received HPV vaccination. Our findings provide no support for suggestions that the vaccine is associated with increased sexual activity. Importantly, we found that young women in our population are sexually active at a young age and are engaged in high-risk behaviors, affirming the importance of early vaccination.