Uncertain knowledge: a national survey of High School students' knowledge and beliefs about hepatitis C

Lindsay, Jo; Smith, Anthony M. A.; Rosenthal, Doreen

doi:10.1111/j.1467-842x.1999.tb01223.x

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The lesson from HIV is that education programs must also address the social context of transmission to allow risk-reduction behaviours. 8 Although we found reasonable levels of knowledge of hepatitis C transmission and health significance, we found very low rates of knowledge of the transmission and health consequences of common STIs such as chlamydia and genital herpes. Improving health outcomes in this area will require a concerted effort to improve knowledge of transmission and consequences of these infections.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Sex in Australia: Knowledge about sexually transmissible infections and blood‐borne viruses in a representative sample of adults

Grulich

Visser

Smith

et al. 2003

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

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family planning clinics, only 27% of respondents knew that chlamydia could cause infertility, 3 although around 40% of female respondents at genito-urinary medicine clinics were aware of this complication.4,5 A survey at US sexually transmissible disease (STD) clinics revealed a high rate of misconceptions about STD-protective behaviours such as genital washing and douching. 6 In Australia, a nationally representative sample of 3,550 Australian secondary school students revealed that although knowledge about HIV was good, knowledge about STIs other than HIV was poor.7 Although 56% of students knew that people who had injected drugs were at risk of contracting hepatitis C, only 37% were aware that hepatitis C could be spread by tattooing or body piercing. Fewer than half the respondents correctly answered questions about the transmission and effects of chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhoea, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and 31% believed there was a vaccine against hepatitis C.8 A national non-random dial-in telephone survey of homosexually active men reported generally better levels of knowledge of STIs: 82% of respondents knew that genital herpes persisted for life, 77% knew that hepatitis B could be transmitted sexually, 72% believed that hepatitis C had long-term health effects, 71% knew that gonorrhoea could be transmitted through oral sex, 67% knew that hepatitis C could be transmitted by tattooing and body piercing, and 52% knew it was untrue that genital warts could be spread only by intercourse. 9One aim of the Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR) was to assess levels of knowledge regarding STIs and blood-borne viruses (BBVs). MethodsThe methodology used in the ASHR is described elsewhere in this issue of the Journal.10 Briefly, between May 2001 and June 2002 computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 10,173 men and 9,134 women aged 16-59 years from all States and Territories, who were selected by modified random-digit dialling. The overall response rate was 73.1% (69.4% among men, and 77.6% among women).Respondents completed a 10-item test of knowledge about STIs and BBVs by indicating whether they thought each of the items listed in Table 1 was true or false, or did not know the answer. Correct responses were summed to give a knowledge score that could vary from 0 to 10. Comparisons with other samples were possible, because all 10 items had been used in the national survey of secondary students 7 and six had been used in a national survey of homosexually active men. 9The correlates of STI and BBV knowledge examined in this paper included respondents' age recoded into five groups: 16-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and 50-59 years. Respondents who spoke a language other than English at home were classified as having a non-English-speaking background. Sexual identity (in answer to the question 'Do you think of yourself as ...') was coded as heterosexual (or 'straight'), homosexual (lesbian or gay) or bisexual. Too few respondents stated that they were 'queer', 'oth...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Sex in Australia: Knowledge about sexually transmissible infections and blood‐borne viruses in a representative sample of adults

Grulich

Visser

Smith

et al. 2003

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

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“…HIV patients) and young adults had low levels of HCV awareness scoring 54% and 43% correct respectively. This adds to a growing number of investigations showing inadequate HCV knowledge among young adults (20, 21). For example, a recent investigation of an HCV educational campaign for high school students in France showed that baseline knowledge about HCV was poor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing public awareness about hepatitis C: development and validation of the brief hepatitis C knowledge scale

Balfour

Kowal

Corace

et al. 2009

Scandinavian Caring Sciences

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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is silently becoming a major public health problem. Currently, no validated HCV knowledge measures exist. This study aimed to develop and validate a brief measure to assess general knowledge about HCV risk factors, modes of transmissions, and treatment options. A total of 406 individuals participated in this cross-sectional study. All participants completed the proposed 19-item Brief HCV Knowledge Scale. Participants were: HCV mono-infected patients (n = 83), HCV-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infected patients (n = 24), HIV mono-infected patients (n = 128) community healthcare workers (n = 89), and college students (n = 82). Two-week test-retest data were collected for the college student sample. Psychometric evaluation of the proposed scale demonstrated high levels of validity (content and construct validity) and reliability (internal consistency and retest stability). Factor analysis indicated a one-factor solution, which accounted for 49% of the variance. HCV knowledge was positively correlated with length of time since HCV diagnosis (r = 0.29, p < 0.05). HCV treatment-experienced patients obtained significantly higher HCV knowledge scores (82% correct) than HCV treatment-naïve patients (72% correct) (p < 0.05). HCV knowledge in College students (43% correct) and HIV patients (54% correct) was significantly lower than in HCV patients (77% correct) and community healthcare workers (80% correct) (p < 0.001). Community workers' HCV knowledge was positively correlated with years of HCV work experience (r = 0.30, p < 0.01). This self-administered Brief HCV Knowledge scale has high levels of validity and reliability across patient, healthcare provider and college student populations. It has valuable applications as a clinical teaching tool with patients and healthcare providers and could be used as an outcome indicator in novel HCV educational intervention studies.

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“…Although the literature is available in a variety of languages they are all direct translations of the original English format that is aimed at the Anglo‐Celtic, predominantly IDU population. Recent studies have shown that the knowledge of HCV in the general community and in certain high risk groups is variable 28–31 . Race and ethnicity have been shown to influence level of knowledge regarding HCV 32 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic and cultural determinants influence risk assessment for hepatitis C acquisition

Dev

Sundararajan

Sievert

2004

J of Gastro and Hepatol

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Uncertain knowledge: a national survey of High School students' knowledge and beliefs about hepatitis C

Abstract: Some lessons from HIV education can be readily transferred to this new epidemic but others cannot. There is a danger that HIV and HCV will be conflated in education programs.

Cited by 18 publications

References 4 publications

Sex in Australia: Knowledge about sexually transmissible infections and blood‐borne viruses in a representative sample of adults

Sex in Australia: Knowledge about sexually transmissible infections and blood‐borne viruses in a representative sample of adults

Increasing public awareness about hepatitis C: development and validation of the brief hepatitis C knowledge scale

Ethnic and cultural determinants influence risk assessment for hepatitis C acquisition

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