Human Papillomavirus Vaccination and Physical and Mental Health Complaints Among Female Students in Secondary Education Institutions in Denmark.

Background: Previous studies have not explored the effect of HPV vaccination on health status at a longer time interval. Similarly, self-reported physical and mental health in recipients of the HPV vaccine has not been studied.

Objective: To evaluate whether HPV vaccination was associated with physical and mental health complaints among girls in secondary education institutions.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Participants: This study used data from girls aged 15-20 years who participated in the Danish National Youth Study (DNYS) 2014. Data on HPV vaccination was retrieved from the Danish Vaccination Register.

Main Measures: Participants were asked whether they had experienced headaches, stomachache, neck pain, menstrual cramps, sore throat, sadness, irritation, nervousness and sleep problems in the past 6 months.

Key Results: Of 41,333 girls, 39,145 (94.7%) received at least one dose of HPV vaccine. The most prevalent health complaint among the vaccinated and not vaccinated females was "been irritable" (88.2% and 88.4%, respectively). The lowest proportion of health complaints was stomachache (49.6% in vaccinated and in 50.4% in unvaccinated girls). Regression model, adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics and health behavior, showed that HPV vaccination was associated with a lower likelihood of reporting sore throat (odd ratio [OR] 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.95) and being sad (OR 0.86, 95%CI 0.76-0.97). Similar results were observed when HPV vaccination status was analyzed according to the number of doses received.

Conclusion: We conclude that HPV vaccination was not associated with physical and mental health complaints among girls in secondary education institutions in Denmark after a median of 5.3 years since HPV vaccination.