Mother Like Daughter: Maternal Attitude Toward Prevention A Factor In Whether Or Not Daughter Vaccinated For HPV

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 17 Apr 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Mothers' attitudes toward prevention efforts strongly influence their daughters' human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake among their daughters. Researchers investigated whether maternal attitude toward prevention, as indicated by history of seeking Pap tests and contracting sexually transmitted infections, influenced HPV vaccine uptake among their adolescent daughters.

Researchers paired the electronic health records of girls, aged 9 to 17 years, with the records of their mothers; they were a total of 148,350 mother-daughter pairs. They found that mothers' testing history was associated with daughters' likelihood for vaccination across ethnic and neighborhood socioeconomic strata. Researchers thereby concluded that mothers' attitude toward prevention may influence HPV vaccine uptake among adolescent girls.

The study's authors stated, "Our findings suggest that mothers' attitudes toward preventative measures are one of the factors determining whether their daughters receive a nonmandatory vaccine against HPV infection and comply with its recommended 3-dose regimen."

"Papanicolaou Screening Behavior in Mothers and Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake in Adolescent Girls"

The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly Journal of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

Source
The American Journal of Public Health