Enlisting primary care physicians’ help in protecting their patients against the world’s most common sexually transmitted infection was the focus of a recent “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Dr. Andrea Taylor

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Andrea Taylor, an assistant professor in MTSU’s School of Nursing, first aired Oct. 19 on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

You can listen to their conversation at the SoundCloud link above.

Taylor co-authored a study that examined the results of encouraging primary care physicians to convince their patients to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, according to nursing theorist Nola L. Pender’s health promotion model.

“Research shows that there are so many influences (on a) patient’s decision, whether it’s through a blog or through social media, but ultimately the relationship with the provider is going to be key,” Taylor said.

HPV can cause genital warts as well as cancers of the cervix, anus, penis, vulva and vagina, along with the mouth and throat.

According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 80 million people in the United States are infected with HPV. An estimated 14 million become newly infected each year.

Gina K. Logue

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that HPV immunization begin at age 11 or 12. Children can be immunized as early as age 9, however.

Taylor’s report, which she co-authored with the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing’s Leslie W. Hopkins and Ginny Moore, is titled “Increasing human papillomavirus immunization in the primary care setting.”

It’s been published in the October 2021 issue of The Nurse Practitioner, a peer-reviewed academic journal.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about the radio program, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

A doctor talks with a patient in an examination room in this March 2020 file image from Pexels, which also includes the logos for WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and the MTSU School of Nursing with a photo of assistant professor Andrea Taylor at right. Taylor discussed the importance of primary care physicians in protecting their patients from HPV, the world’s most common sexually transmitted infection, on the Oct. 19 edition of “MTSU On the Record” on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org. You can listen to that broadcast at the SoundCloud link above. (file image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels)