Assessment of knowledge, Attitudes and Practices regarding Hepatitis B virus among Nurses in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide issue. Nurses are particularly at risk of occupational HBV contamination. In Bangladesh, there is little understanding of the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of nurses regarding HBV. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the KAP of nurses regarding HBV. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 nurses through face-to-face interviews through a semi-structured questionnaire using a convenient sample technique. Different statistical tools including frequency distribution, Pearson Chi-square test, and t-tests were used in data analysis. Results The average age of the participants was 34.5 years where majority of them were 31-40 years old (50.0%) and female (83%). This study revealed that 25.0% had good knowledge, 43.3% exhibited a good (positive) attitude, and 56.7% of nurses demonstrated good practices regarding HBV. Conversely, nurses exhibit a poor knowledge rate of 30.0%, a poor attitude rate of 30.8%, and a poor practice rate of 29.2% regarding HBV. The independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA demonstrated that nurses from rural residences had a significantly higher knowledge [0.80 (0.79-0.82) versus 0.78 (0.77-0.79)]; p=0.001] regarding HBV. Similarly, female [mean attitude score: 0.88 (0.85-0.91) versus 0.77 (0.86-0.69); p=0.009] and nurses from Muslim [0.79(0.61-0.97) versus 0.79(0.76-0.83); p=0.035] faiths has significantly higher positive attitude and good practice behaviors compared to their counterparts. Conclusions Increasing the vaccination coverage rate of all nurses, as well as implementing additional techniques for preventing exposure in the workplace, training programs on HBV infection, including PEP, comes highly recommended.