Nevada HPV Vaccine Completion Time and Adherence Among 9-14-Year-Olds From 2017-2023

The HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, in the United States. Since its development in 1991, the HPV vaccine has been proven to be highly effective against the infection (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2024). In order for an individual to receive optimal protection, the CDC has given guidelines dependent on age. It is important to understand changes in HPV vaccine completion for future public health immunization campaigns and objectives. To analyze how HPV completion and adherence has changed from 2017-2023 among the 9-14-year-old population, a retrospective cohort study was conducted utilizing secondary data from Nevada’s Immunization Information System (NV WebIZ). Vaccination records (n= 108,070) were used to determine the prevalence of completion in Nevada. Across the years 2017-2023, there was a low prevalence of HPV completion across adolescents. A nonparametric analysis was used to determine differences in the amount of time it took to receive the second dose of the HPV vaccine over time and across different demographic groups. There was no statistically significant trend over the years (p= 0.44). There were statistically significant differences in completion time among demographic groups including age, gender, racial background, and insurance types (p < 0.001). A logistic regression was conducted to understand how demographic factors predict vaccination adherence. Gender, county, race, year of initiation, initial insurance, and initial provider were all significant covariates of the regression model (p< 0.05). Despite the statistical significance, there were limited practical differences among groups. This study provides an overview of HPV completion across adolescents and can be used to understand HPV vaccination in Nevada.