Physician Perspectives on Adolescent Immunizations - Results of a National Survey of Pediatricians and Family Physicians

Learning Objectives for this Presentation:
By the end of the presentation participants will be able to understand physicians' perspectives about the new adolescent vaccines.

Background:
Several new vaccines have been recommended for adolescents over the past 2 years.

Objectives:
To assess physician perspectives on the administration of the new adolescent vaccines.

Methods:
A 47-item survey was sent in 2006-07 to a large national sample of pediatricians and family physicians whose names were obtained from the AMA's Master File of Physicians. Completed surveys were received from 374 (47% of) surveyed pediatricians and 194 (34% of) surveyed family physicians. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses were performed.

Results:
Survey results indicate that almost all surveyed physicians are offering meningococcal conjugate and Tdap vaccinations to adolescents. These vaccines are offered by 95% of responding physicians at health supervision visits, while only 18% and 22% of physicians respectively offer meningococcal conjugate and Tdap vaccinations at illness-related visits. Survey respondents note an almost universally positive parental response to these vaccines. 78%, 90% are 92% of responding physicians were likely to offer HPV vaccine to pre-adolescents, young adolescents and older adolescents. The likelihood of infection with HPV and the efficacy of the vaccine in preventing cervical cancer were cited as the primary reasons that both pediatricians and family physicians offered HPV vaccine. When asked to prioritize the 3 vaccinations, Tdap vaccine was ranked as the highest priority by 66% of physicians while meningococcal conjugate vaccine and HPV vaccine were ranked as the second and third priority respectively.

Conclusions:
The new adolescent vaccinations are being offered by a high percentage of pediatricians and family physicians. While all of the vaccinations are considered important, physicians generally prioritize Tdap over meningococcal and HPV vaccination.