Reminding parents of tweens who were due for a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine increased uptake, especially when combined with auditing healthcare professionals after appointments, a cluster randomized trial showed.

Among more than 9,000 kids ages 11 and 12, the odds of HPV vaccination were higher when parents received reminders compared with usual care (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.23-1.97), reported Lila Finney Rutten, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues.

Those odds were even better when parents got reminders and healthcare professionals were audited (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.44-2.85), they noted in JAMA Pediatricsopens in a new tab or window.

However, auditing healthcare professionals alone did not significantly increase HPV vaccination uptake (OR 1.19, 95% CI 0.94-1.51).

Finney Rutten told MedPage Today that her team "selected these strategies to target both patients/parents and providers."

With usual care, 21.9% of patients received an HPV vaccine dose. With an added parent reminder, the rate jumped to 34.6%, and with the healthcare professional audit, the rate was 30.4%. But with both interventions, 39.7% of patients were vaccinated.

"We more than doubled HPV vaccine rates during a pandemic that triggered very polarized perspectives on vaccination in the U.S.," Finney Rutten said.

Despite being a critical tool in preventing HPV, and thus HPV-attributable cancers, HPV vaccine uptake lags behind comparators.

Ultimately, the authors concluded that the interventions were "an effective and scalable approach to improving HPV vaccination and reducing HPV-associated cancer burden."