Utilization Evaluation of Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine(GARDASIL®) in Iran; A Cross-Sectional Study

Vaccination against hpv seems to be a good approach for prevention of cervical cancerand genital warts. but in iran we are confronted with lack of evidence for its cost-effectivenesswhereas its consumption is dramatically increasing.this was a cross- sectional study. we used a questionnaire including 5 sections asfollows; patients demographic information, patients medical history, pregnancy and lactationconsiderations, gardasil prescription characteristics and hpv infection characteristics. prescriberwith adherence to guideline were defined as those prescribing gardasil for correct age range andindication with accurate dosage and administration. descriptive statistics for variables was shownby frequency (percent) or mean (± sd) and evaluation of relation between categorical variableswas performed by using chi-square test.total 566 gardasil recipients participated in the study. there were mostly female with meanage of 28.1 (± 6.68). for 128 (22.6%) participants gardasil prescribed correctly consideringboth age range (9-26 years) and indication (prophylactic). from this group, 80 participants(14.1%/566) have received accurate gardasil dosage and interval (prescriber had adherence toguideline). patients’ out of pocket payment in guidelines adherent prescriptions was a seventh oftotal costs obtained from 566 consumers. gynecologists significantly prescribed for prophylaxishigher than other specialties (p-value = 0.01).prescribers’ practice in administrating gardasil is obviously not appropriate and it is imposingburdensome cost to community and government. on the other hand, we have encountered withincreasing rate of its use in iran in past years. therefore, we are in urgent need for appropriateinterventions in national level and prompt supervision to regulate gardasil consumption.