ISSN 2756-3855
International Journal of Urology and Nephrology ISSN 2091-1254 Vol. 6 (2), pp. 001-007, February, 2018. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Health workers’ knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards hepatitis B infection in Southern Nigeria
S. O. Samuel1*, S. A. Aderibigbe2, T. A. T. Salami3 and O. A. Babatunde2
1Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria.
2Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State, Nigeria.
3Department of Medicine, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria.
Accepted 07 November, 2017
Abstract
Globally, it is estimated that approximately 400 million individuals are chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus and more than a million people die annually from HBV-related causes. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo state, Nigeria, to determine health workers knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards hepatitis B infection using a structured questionnaire. Two hundred respondents from the different cadres of health workers in the hospital were recruited by stratified sampling into the study. More than three-quarters of the respondents (81%) had ever heard of hepatitis B infection prior to the study. Of those that were aware of hepatitis B infection, 92% mentioned blood and blood products as route of transmission of Hepatitis B, 68.5% mentioned needles and sharps while only 37% said that the disease can be transmitted through sexual intercourse. Incorrectly identified routes of transmission by the respondents include faeco-oral transmission (14.2%) and transmission through drinking contaminated water (9.3%). On ways of preventing Hepatitis B infection, correctly identified preventive measures include vaccination by a majority (77.2%) of the respondents. More than three quarters of the respondents (80.9%) said that Hepatitis B can be acquired as a nosocomial infection from the hospital while 69.8% said that Hepatitis B infection is widely transmitted like HIV/AIDS. A little more than three-quarters of the respondents (75.5%), were aware of the existence of Hepatitis B vaccine prior to the study. Only 70.2% have actually ever received Hepatitis B vaccine, out of which only 59.4% completed the vaccination schedule. Poor compliance of Health workers to hepatitis B vaccination is an issue that deserves serious attention. There is a need for health education campaigns for health workers so that they can understand the risks that they are exposed to based on the nature of their work.
Key words: Health workers, hepatitis B, vaccination, knowledge, attitude, behaviour.