Girls with mental illness or neurodevelopmental conditions are less likely than their peers to be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine that protects against future cervical cancer. This is according to a new registry study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in The Lancet Public Health . The study involved more than 115,000 girls covered by the Swedish school-based human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program.
The vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer, among other things, is offered to all children in Sweden and given by school health services. Significant differences The researchers found significant differences when examining the association between vaccination coverage and psychiatric diagnoses or the use of psychotropic medications. Girls with psychiatric diagnoses had an 11 per cent lower vaccination coverage of the first dose of the HPV vaccine compared to girls of the same age without such diagnoses.
The difference was particularly pronounced among girls with autism or intellectual disability, who had over 20 per cent lower vaccination coverage. Girls who received medication for mental health conditions had a 7 per cent lower vaccination coverage, but the figures varied significantly depending on the type of medication prescribed. Among girls receiving antipsychotic medication, vaccination coverage was as much as 32 per cent lower compared to girls of the same age without such medication.
Ensuring health equity Our study emphasizes the need for targeted inter.