Association of Older Sister's HPV Vaccination Status on HPV Vaccine Receipt by Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Efforts to increase human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage rates in adolescents include finding ways to improve discussions between clinicians and parents. One potentially important piece of information for these discussions is the HPV vaccination status of older siblings.

METHODS: A nationally representative online panel was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey of parents of children aged 9 to 17 years in October 2012.

RESULTS: Overall, 768 adolescents (35%) had ≥1 older sister aged 10 to 26 years. Male and female adolescents with an older sister who had received no HPV vaccine doses demonstrated higher rates of having no doses themselves, compared with those who had no older sister or those who had an older sister who had received ≥1 HPV vaccine dose.

CONCLUSIONS: Discussing the HPV vaccination status of older sisters may be a useful strategy for providers to differentiate HPV vaccine messages to parents of unvaccinated younger siblings.