Comparison of Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Hepatitis B among Healthcare Professionals in Pakistan

Abstract

AimHepatitis B virus (HBV) is a blood-borne infectious disease. It is one of the most common causes of end-stage liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Healthcare professionals, including medical and dental students, are at a high risk of acquiring this infection. The aim of this study was to compare and contrast the knowledge and attitudes toward HBV infection amongst doctors, dentists, nurses, and undergraduate final year medical and dental students.Subjects and methodA cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample size of 381 medical professionals, which included doctors (59), dentists (77), nurses (71), final year medical students (126), and final year dental students (48) at Combined Military Hospital Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry (CMH LMC). A questionnaire comprising 27 multiple choice questions was distributed amongst the groups mentioned above. The questionnaire aimed to assess basic knowledge, attitudes towards those infected, and knowledge about vaccination against HBV.ResultsThe total response rate was 88.8% (382/430 respondents returned the questionnaire). The mean ± standard deviation (SD) score for all healthcare professionals in knowledge was 15.54 ± 3.69 and attitude were 4.67 ± 1.37, which indicated that majority of the healthcare professionals were well informed about hepatitis B and generally exhibited positive attitudes. However, results revealed that medical students lacked adequate knowledge about various aspects of HBV infection, including modes of transmission and prevention methods against the disease. On the other hand, dental students were better informed and exhibited a more positive attitude towards the disease.ConclusionAccording to the results of our study, medical students showed poor knowledge about hepatitis B disease, including its modes of transmission and the option of vaccination. Lack of knowledge contributed significantly to their negative attitudes towards those suffering from the disease, which has the potential to considerably affect the quality of patient care and the doctor-patient relationship. Major steps should be taken towards improving the curriculum followed at medical colleges in Pakistan. More emphasis should be laid on providing knowledge during early academic years and increasing the amount of clinical exposure. Frequent workshops and seminars should be organized in order to provide up-to-date knowledge about HBV infection and means of prevention to both healthcare professionals and students.

Coparison of knowledge and attitudes regarding hepatitis B among students of Faculty of medicine, University of Mostar

“…Similar results are also reported by a study at the Faculty of Medicine in Foča (B&H), where 93.5% of them consider vaccination as the most important measure for the prevention of hepatitis B [13]. Likewise, some other studies show similar results [17][18][19][20]. Attitudes of the students on HBV positive patients were estimated based on 10 claims set and 5 offered responses of intensities reflecting a higher or lower degree of agreement with a particular statement.…”

“…Quite similar results were presented in a Chinese study where dental medicine students showed less willingness to treat HBV infected patients compared to medical students, with the emphasis that student´s attitudes are becoming more positive as they are more likely to encounter and work with infected patients [21]. In contrast, the results of Pakistan study suggest that dental medicine students with more knowledge have shown greater willingness to treat patients with illness [18].…”

“…We must also consider the fact that the respondents are students of the first two grades of faculty and that there is still plenty of space to improve their level of knowledge on this important topic. In most similar studies on this topic, there was a lack of student knowledge of most aspects of HBV infection [14][15][16][17][18], while on the other hand there are studies where the level of knowledge was assessed positively [19][20]. Based on the question of our current experience of blood and sexually transmitted diseases, most of them have come into direct contact with the blood of another person, while most of them have never been tested on blood and sexually transmitted diseases.…”

Prevention of viral infection transmission in dental practice

“…Zaštitne mjere protiv profesionalnih virusnih infekcija kod stomatoloških radnika su obavezne. Mnoge studije bavile su se ispitivanjem znanja stomatologa i studenata stomatologije o prenošenju virusnih infekcija u stomatološkoj ordinaciji [44][45][46][47][48][49]. Većina ispitanika je upoznata sa putevima transmisije i načinima zaštite.…”

The level of knowledge of hepatitis B infection among Turkish dental students

“…Besides threating health, it also causes serious damage to economy of the country. HBV is transmitted from one individual to another via direct blood to blood contact, from mother to infant, and unprotected sexual contact (2). Risk factors associated with this infection include drug abuse, piercings, blood transfusions, dialysis, and dental procedures (2).…”