Identifying Underserved Populations in Europe With a Low Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake: A Systematic Review

Background: since 2006, three human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have been licensed in Europe. However, coverage is far from being optimal and it differs greatly among countries and populations.

Objective: in view of the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 90% coverage of HPV vaccination by 2030, the aim of this systematic review is to identify underserved populations living in Europe with a low HPV vaccine uptake, since the last systematic review was published in 2015.

Methods: three databases, PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched for articles published from January 2006 until 2nd June 2020. Articles about underserved populations in Europe with a low HPV vaccine uptake not merely due to their beliefs were included. Articles were screened, their quality assessed and descriptively synthesized.

Results: out of 837 identified articles, 37 were included for analysis. Six main underserved populations were identified, namely girls from an ethnic minority group, girls with a lower socio-economic status, girls or whose parents with either low or high education, girls belonging to certain household characteristics and girls engaging in risky behaviours.

Conclusion: the identification of these underserved populations urges now a further identification of barriers that hinder their HPV vaccine uptake. This would enable the creation of tailored vaccination programmes to increase their HPV vaccine uptake and to consequently achieve the WHO goal.