Effects of educational interventions for community pharmacists on promoting human papillomavirus vaccination: A randomized double-blind parallel group comparison trial.

Objective: Owing to persistent concerns about side effects, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates in Japan have remained low. Pharmacists are therefore encouraged to improve vaccination rates by providing accurate information. This study evaluated the impact of educational interventions on pharmacists' knowledge and willingness to recommend the HPV vaccine.

Methods: This randomized double-blind trial assigned community pharmacists to an intervention or control group. The intervention group watched a video about the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer, whereas the control group watched a video about lung cancer. Assessments regarding knowledge and willingness to recommend the vaccine were conducted after obtaining consent (pre-test), immediately post-intervention (post-test 1), and 28 days post-intervention (post-test 2).

Results: This study randomly assigned 124 participants. A significant difference in the change in motivation to recommend HPV vaccination at 28 days post-intervention (post-test 2) was observed between the two groups ( = 0.02). A significant difference in the change in motivation was also found between the two groups immediately post-intervention (post-test 1) ( < 0.001). Knowledge about the HPV vaccine and confidence in explaining it showed significant differences at both post-test 1 and post-test 2 ( < 0.001 for both).

Discussion: Educational intervention significantly improved knowledge and willingness to recommend the HPV vaccine. This finding suggests that enhancing knowledge also boosts the willingness to recommend the vaccine, highlighting the potential long-term effects of educational interventions. Furthermore, our results underscore the crucial role pharmacists play in providing accurate information to the community.

Conclusion: Utilizing pharmacists to disseminate vaccine information is effective given their familiarity with and accessibility to community residents. Policymakers should therefore leverage pharmacists to promote vaccine recommendations.

Trial Registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry Number: UMIN000050192. Registered Feb 23, 2023.