Background While hepatitis B virus infection may be seen as a global threat within the medical and scientific community, primary prevention via vaccination remains the most effective approach towards breaking the chain of transmission of HBV infection. However, vaccination uptake in Uganda has been modest despite a very endemic national figure resulting from the vertical transmission of this infection. This study assessed the predictors of HBV vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women attending Antenatal clinic in Central Uganda. Methodology A hospital-based cross-sectional study employing a five-sectioned pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was conducted to obtain data from 385 consenting pregnant women. Responses for the antecedent variables were transformed into weighted aggregate scores using SPSS version 26. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to ascertain the predictors of HBV vaccine hesitancy with the cut-off for hypotheses set at 5% level of significance. Results The majority of the respondents (59%) were between the ages of 18 and 28 years. Women with secondary educational attainment were predominant (42.3%). The respondents had mean scores of 5.97±6.61, 17.10±18.31, and 12.39±13.37, respectively, computed for knowledge of HBV infection, perception, and behavioral skills towards HBV prevention. Regarding vaccine hesitancy, three-quarters of the women (74%) hesitated to uptake HBV vaccine. While negative significant associations exist between marital status (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.22–1.01), knowledge (AOR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.70–0.89), behavioral skills (AOR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.81–0.95) and vaccine hesitancy, level of education (AOR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.08–3.27) and perception (AOR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.05–1.18) on the other hand, positively predicted vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion The findings reported an extremely high degree of HBV vaccine hesitancy among the expectant mothers discovered to be linked with marital status, educational attainment, HBV-specific knowledge, perception and behavioral skills. This necessitates targeted health education for married women with lower educational attainment to improve their knowledge which will in turn shape their perception and behavioral skills towards satisfactory uptake of HBV vaccine.

Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is considered a significant global public health challenge with infectivity as well as estimated potential for transmission more than 50 to 100 times that of HIV. Over time, numerous empirical studies have shown that majority of HBV-related yearly global deaths are secondary to carcinoma of the liver. It is also known that HBV infected Women have the potential to transmit the infection vertically to their infants during pregnancy. This accounts for the WHO reported 3.16% prevalence among children less than 5 years of age in Uganda. This study assessed the predictors of HBV infection prevention practices among eligible consenting pregnant women using Lubaga health facility for antenatal care (ANC). Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study employing quantitative data collection based on the constructs of IMB model was used to capture data on the study variables among 385 randomly selected eligible pregnant women attending antenatal care at Lubaga hospital between September 2020 and October 2020. Data derived from the quantitative instrument was analysed by data reduction and transformation to summaries of descriptive statistics using (SPSS version 26) and regression analysis was performed to establish characteristics of the association between the variables with significance level set as (p < 0.05). Chi-square goodness-of-fit test was employed for significant differences in the proportion of dichotomous responses. Results The findings showed that more than half of the respondents (59%) were between the ages of 18 and 28 and majority of them (42.3%) had secondary education. Furthermore, an average but inadequate knowledge ($$\overline{X }=$$ X ¯ = 5.97 ± 6.61; B = 0.57; p < .001), positive perception ($$\overline{X }=$$ X ¯ = 17.10 ± 18.31; B = 0.97; p = .014) and good behavioural skills ($$\overline{X }=$$ X ¯ = 12.39 ± 13.37; B = 0.56; p < .001) for adopting prevention practices all statistically predicted the averagely acceptable level of prevention practices ($$\overline{X }=$$ X ¯ = 15.03 ± 16.20) among the study respondents as measured on rating scales of 12, 33, 21 and 30 respectively. Conclusion and recommendation There were observed gaps in their knowledge about some basic features of the infection like transmission and risk factors as well as some misperceptions about vaccination despite the relatively average score level for both, which is likely to influence their prevention behaviours and predispose them to the risk of the infection if actions are not taken. Therefore, personalized health education is needed during antenatal visits and subsequent health campaign in order to inform better prevention practices among this vulnerable population group.