Interventions at the practice and community level appear to be an effective way to boost human papillomavirus immunization rates, according to a systematic review by Linda Niccolai, Ph.D., of the Yale School of Public Health, and Dr. Caitlin Hansen of the Yale School of Medicine, both in New Haven, Conn.
The authors looked at 14 studies in the review with approaches including reminder and recall, physician-focused intervention, school-based programs, and social marketing. Of the included studies, 12 showed a significant increase in HPV immunization rates after the intervention, 1 showed a nonsignificant increase, and 1 showed mixed results.
“The choice of a particular strategy may depend on considerations, such as financial and logistical challenges. Future research should explore how best to widely disseminate and sustain programs that work and evaluate the effectiveness of alternative untested strategies using rigorous and high-quality research methods,” the investigators concluded.
Find the full study in JAMA Pediatrics ( doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0310 ).
