Vaccination status of adolescents and factors associated with incomplete vaccination schedule in the eighth health region of Paraíba, Brazil Thesis by Clebson Veríssimo da Costa Pereira. Advisor: Marco Aurélio Palazzi Safadi and José Cassio de Moraes

INTRODUCTION: The expansion of the offer of vaccines to the entire population took place through the establishment of specific calendars through the National Immunization Program. For adolescents, even with the inclusion of free vaccines, there is low adherence to vaccination among this population. Objective: To analyze the vaccination status of adolescents between 11 and 14 years of age with the quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and meningococcal C conjugate vaccines, as recommended in the routine vaccination schedule of the Ministry of Health; to investigate the factors associated with the incomplete vaccination schedule of this target audience in the municipalities that make up the Eighth Health Region of ParaíbaPB. Methods: Descriptive study with a quantitative approach through a household survey, with random sampling (458 adolescents) carried out in ten municipalities in the eighth health region of Paraíba. Statistical analyzes were performed using the statistical program SPSS for Windows (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) free version, using Pearson’s chi-square test (p<0.05) and odds ratio. Results: 89.7% of the participants carried a vaccination card at the time of the interview; 57% of the sample is female; there was low coverage in relation to the vaccines studied within the territory, 62.2% had a complete scheme for HPV and only 44% for immunization against meningococcus C and, finally, heterogeneity was observed in the percentages of vaccination. Most respondents did not forget to take the vaccine; were vaccinated at school; they had the encouragement of parents or guardians and believed in the effectiveness of vaccination. Conclusion: The study achieved the proposed objectives, while it managed to analyze the vaccine status of HPV and Meningococcal C conjugate; successfully compared secondary data on administrative vaccination coverage from the Ministry of Health’s information system with the findings of field research, demonstrating similarities between some municipalities; and, finally, he found that there was no hesitation about the vaccine on the part of the adolescents.

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