Hepatitis B virus infection: Knowledge of antenatal attendees in a tertiary hospital

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus infection constitutes a significant global health problem, and perinatal transmission continues to be one of the major routes o transmission in Nigeria. Having adequate knowledge about the virus and the available prevention strategies may lead to behavioural changes that will reduce the rate of acquisition and transmission of the virus. Objectives: To assess the knowledge about Hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women attending antenatal booking clinic Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 354 pregnant women who presented for antenatal booking at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria from 1stMay to 31st July 2018. A pretested questionnaire was administered to assess awareness, knowledge and attitude of pregnant women to hepatitis B virus infection. Statistical analysis was done using IBM-SPSS version 21 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). Results: Two hundred and twenty-eight women (64.4%) were aware of Hepatitis B virus infection. One hundred and eighty- seven women (52.8%) correctly identified hepatitis as a viral infection, while 173 (48.9%) knew that hepatitis B mainly affects the liver. The major source of information was health workers. More than half of the women could not correctly identify the mode of transmission and methods of prevention of hepatitis B virus infection. There was a significant association between age and educational status of the women, and knowledge of Hepatitis B virus infection (p=0.001, p=0.002 respectively). Conclusion: This study demonstrates a knowledge deficit on Hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women. We recommend that there should be a community-based health education strategy targeted at increasing the awareness and knowledge of hepatitis B virus infection.