# Implementation Penetration Assessment Criteria Tool for HPV Vaccination- Promoting Uptake among Young Girls in Nigeria

> **NIH NIH F31** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $36,801

## Abstract

There exists a research-to-practice gap that hinders the penetration of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination
among adolescent girls and young women in Nigeria. To close this gap requires reliable, validated, easy-to-use
tools to identify and measure elements of penetration that drive high performance of HPV vaccination uptake in
resource limited settings. Penetration, defined here as the integration of evidence (i.e. HPV vaccines) within the
culture of recipient setting or community through policies and practices remains incompletely understood in
African settings. Currently, existing measures for penetration suggest that there are three stages that determine
the extent of integration within service settings: 1) passages (i.e. single event); 2) routines (repetitive
reinforcement of interventions) and 3) niche saturation (or extent in which intervention is integrated). However,
these measures often confound several dynamic processes inherent with integrating evidence-based
interventions within resource limited settings. They also provide no insight on the multidimensional nature of
penetration or whether it may be influenced by important determinants such as: 1) perceptions of passages; 2)
enablers or resources for routines; and 3) nurturers or assets for niche saturation. In response to NCI’s Strategic
Plan of advancing global cancer research and increasing vaccination rates among girls worldwide, the overall
goal of this F31 Diversity Grant is to develop a reliable, valid, and pragmatic assessment tool that will identify
core features of penetration related to high uptake of HPV vaccines. We proposed to develop the Implementation
Penetration Tool with the guidance of the perceptions, enablers, and nurturers domain of the PEN-3 cultural
model developed by Airhihenbuwa to address the determinants highlighted above. This study, which builds on
the recently funded ACCESS study (R01 CA271033: PI: Iwelunmor: Actions for Collaborative Community
Engages Strategies for HPV), will develop the IPT Tool through the projects three specific aims: to (1) identify
core domains and items that will comprise an implementation penetration tool (IPT) via in-depth interviews with
20 young women and group concept mapping with 20 key stakeholders; (2) evaluate face validity of the IPT tool
via the cognitive interviewing technique “think aloud” and pilot test the drafted tool; and (3) evaluate the
psychometric properties of the IPT tool across 18 sites of the ACCESS study using the Psychometric Evidence
Scale criteria as a guide. The project is significant because, if successful, it would be the first reliable, valid, and
pragmatic instrument for assessing the penetration of evidence-based HPV vaccination in an African context
and will also provide a roadmap for building capacity and infrastructure for advancing the reach, adoption, and
sustainability of HPV vaccines in an African setting, traditionally underrepresented in implementation science
research. This project...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10998613
- **Project number:** 1F31CA294971-01
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Onyekachukwu Anikamadu
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $36,801
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2025-02-05 → 2027-02-04

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10998613

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10998613, Implementation Penetration Assessment Criteria Tool for HPV Vaccination- Promoting Uptake among Young Girls in Nigeria (1F31CA294971-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-24 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/10998613. Licensed CC0.

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