Predicting human papillomavirus vaccination behaviour among adolescent girls in England: results from a prospective survey

Background To maximise the benefits of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, uptake needs to be high. We examined psychosocial predictors of HPV vaccine uptake and the association between vaccine intention and uptake 1 year later in adolescent girls (aged 16-17 years) in England. Method Adolescent girls in the catch-up cohort were recruited from colleges in the South East of England in 2009 and 2010. Participants completed a questionnaire 6 months before (n=606) and 6 months after (n=214) being offered the vaccine, which assessed vaccine intention, vaccine uptake, demographics and attitudes based on the Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behaviour. Results A number of demographic and psychological factors, including intention, showed associations with vaccine uptake in uni-variable analyses. In multi-variable analyses, only ethnicity was independently associated with vaccine uptake. Participants from Black or 'Other' ethnic backgrounds were less likely to have received the HPV vaccine than White participants. Conclusions More research is needed to help understand variation in vaccine coverage between ethnic groups.