Measuring North Carolina Pharmacists’ Support for Expanded Authority to Administer Human Papillomavirus Vaccines

Purpose: To assess North Carolina pharmacists’ level of support for expanded authority to administer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to identify concerns/benefits about expanded authority and to understand what factors predict support for expanded authority. Method: A 16-item electronic survey was e-mailed to all the pharmacists registered with the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy (n = 9502) between January and February 2011 (1600 pharmacists responded). The survey assessed HPV knowledge, level of support for expanded authority, and comfort level of HPV vaccine administration. Results: Many (64%) pharmacists were supportive of a rule change/legislation that would authorize pharmacists to administer HPV vaccines. Younger pharmacists were more supportive of expansion when compared to older pharmacists (r = −.138, P < .001). Pharmacists with higher knowledge scores were more supportive of expansion (r = .223, P < .001). Reporting a higher level of comfort in administering HPV vaccines at their pharmacy was significantly and positively correlated with higher level of support for expansion (r = .624, P < .001). In the multivariate analysis, HPV knowledge, comfort level in administering vaccine, patient age, and type of pharmacy were all predictive of higher level of support for expanded authority where employed. Conclusion: A large proportion of pharmacists were supportive of an expanded role in providing HPV vaccines. Exploring alternate delivery mechanisms like this one is advantageous.