Reasons for incomplete STI vaccination among men who have sex with men in an English sexual health service
Reasons for incomplete STI vaccination among men who have sex with men in an English sexual health service
Background: In England, vaccination for human papillomavirus, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B is recommended for men who have sex with men (MSM). However, uptake is sub-optimal and some men do not complete all recommended vaccine doses. This service evaluation aimed to explore reasons for lack of uptake for each of these vaccines among MSM in one English sexual health service and to inform improvements in service delivery to increase full dose completion rates.
Methods: MSM, ≥18 years, who had previously attended NHS Solent Sexual Health for at least one vaccination, and who had not completed the full dosing regimen for at least one of these vaccines, were invited to participate in an anonymous, online survey between 14/12/2020-11/04/2021.
Results: Among 246 MSM (M=42.1 years), the most common reason for non-vaccination was that participants thought it was unneeded and had not been recommended by a doctor or healthcare provider. None reported vaccine hesitancy. Likewise, the most common reasons for vaccination were doctor/healthcare provider recommendation (51.7-65.6%) and self-protection (60.9-68.1%). The most common reason for not having completed the full course of vaccination was being unaware that the next dose was due (30.0-37.8%). Many participants who had not completed vaccination indicated that a doctor/healthcare provider recommendation would be a motivating factor and that reminder messages and being able to book subsequent appointments in advance would facilitate vaccination.
Conclusions: Sexual health clinicians should be encouraged to discuss STI vaccination with MSM and services should explore possibilities to improve ease and access to vaccine appointments to increase uptake and completion rates.
HPV, Hepatitis, Men who have sex with men, Vaccination
532-540
Armstrong, Heather
3dc9c223-1a61-47ad-ab0b-50d06cddf4f2
Scholfield, Clare
be4d126a-3da1-444d-b562-c1fe05b6fdfd
Symonds, Ynez
57a07944-cf5f-439a-9d60-ac6c80356378
Nadarzynski, Tomasz
218d69a1-d1be-46f4-bead-23071bd4f270
Graham, Cynthia
ac400331-f231-4449-a69b-ec9a477224c8
July 2023
Armstrong, Heather
3dc9c223-1a61-47ad-ab0b-50d06cddf4f2
Scholfield, Clare
be4d126a-3da1-444d-b562-c1fe05b6fdfd
Symonds, Ynez
57a07944-cf5f-439a-9d60-ac6c80356378
Nadarzynski, Tomasz
218d69a1-d1be-46f4-bead-23071bd4f270
Graham, Cynthia
ac400331-f231-4449-a69b-ec9a477224c8
Armstrong, Heather, Scholfield, Clare, Symonds, Ynez, Nadarzynski, Tomasz and Graham, Cynthia
(2023)
Reasons for incomplete STI vaccination among men who have sex with men in an English sexual health service.
International Journal of STD & AIDS, 34 (8), .
(doi:10.1177/09564624231165078).
Abstract
Background: In England, vaccination for human papillomavirus, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B is recommended for men who have sex with men (MSM). However, uptake is sub-optimal and some men do not complete all recommended vaccine doses. This service evaluation aimed to explore reasons for lack of uptake for each of these vaccines among MSM in one English sexual health service and to inform improvements in service delivery to increase full dose completion rates.
Methods: MSM, ≥18 years, who had previously attended NHS Solent Sexual Health for at least one vaccination, and who had not completed the full dosing regimen for at least one of these vaccines, were invited to participate in an anonymous, online survey between 14/12/2020-11/04/2021.
Results: Among 246 MSM (M=42.1 years), the most common reason for non-vaccination was that participants thought it was unneeded and had not been recommended by a doctor or healthcare provider. None reported vaccine hesitancy. Likewise, the most common reasons for vaccination were doctor/healthcare provider recommendation (51.7-65.6%) and self-protection (60.9-68.1%). The most common reason for not having completed the full course of vaccination was being unaware that the next dose was due (30.0-37.8%). Many participants who had not completed vaccination indicated that a doctor/healthcare provider recommendation would be a motivating factor and that reminder messages and being able to book subsequent appointments in advance would facilitate vaccination.
Conclusions: Sexual health clinicians should be encouraged to discuss STI vaccination with MSM and services should explore possibilities to improve ease and access to vaccine appointments to increase uptake and completion rates.
Text
09564624231165078
- Version of Record
Text
195.full
- Version of Record
Text
armstrong-et-al-2023-reasons-for-incomplete-sti-vaccination-among-men-who-have-sex-with-men-in-an-english-sexual-health
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 3 March 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 March 2023
Published date: July 2023
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
Keywords:
HPV, Hepatitis, Men who have sex with men, Vaccination
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 476015
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/476015
ISSN: 0956-4624
PURE UUID: 457fcc03-b524-4b3c-9132-5e52dbf27577
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 04 Apr 2023 16:43
Last modified: 21 Mar 2024 03:01
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Clare Scholfield
Author:
Ynez Symonds
Author:
Tomasz Nadarzynski
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
