Factors Associated with Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Initiation and Compliance Among U.S. Military Service Members.

Introduction: The primary objective of the current study was to assess factors associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine initiation and compliance in a cohort of active duty US military service members (SM).

Materials And Methods: We included active-duty participants aged 18-26 years from the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal cohort study of over 200,000 military SMs. The eligible study population included 22,387 female SMs and 31,705 male SMs. Vaccination was assessed over the period 2006-2017. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of vaccine initiation and compliance (3 doses within a 1-year period) in relation to demographic, military, health, and behavioral characteristics.

Results: Among female SMs, 37.8% initiated the vaccine and 40.2% of initiators completed the series within a year. Among male SMs, 3.9% initiated the vaccine and 22.1% of initiators completed the series within a year. Differences by sociodemographic factors, deployment status, branch of service, occupation, and smoking status-but not by selected mental health conditions-were observed.

Conclusion: HPV vaccination uptake is subpar across all military service branches. Certain subgroups of SMs could be targeted to increase overall HPV vaccine coverage in the US military population.