Conference abstract
Knowledge and attitude of community health officers towards Hepatitis B virus infection in Port Harcourt, Rivers State
Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2022:13(28).03
Feb 2022.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2022.13.28.889
Archived on: 03 Feb 2022
Contact the corresponding author
Keywords: Community health workers, knowledge and attitude, hepatitis B virus, transmission of infection
Oral presentation
Knowledge and attitude of community health officers towards Hepatitis B virus infection in Port Harcourt, Rivers State
Nzube Ilochonwu1,&, Omoigberai Bashiru Braimoh1
1Department of Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
&Corresponding author
Introduction: community health officers who know how to protect themselves from blood/body fluid exposures and consistently use these measures, will also help protect their patients. The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of community health officers concerning hepatitis B virus infection.
Methods: descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 95 community health officers in Rivers State. The study tool was a self-completed questionnaire. Data analysis was done with SPSS v20; descriptive and inferential statistics at 95% confidence interval were determined.
Results: 95 respondents participated in the study, with 79 (83.2%) being females. Majority of the participants, 96.8%, knew HBV affects the liver, 96.8% knew it affects any age group and 78.9% that jaundice is the major feature. Most of the participants (90.5%) knew that HBV could be transmitted through blood/body fluids, 86.3% unsterilized sharps, 83.2% vertical transmission and 72.6% unprotected sex. Majority (93.7%) of respondents knew about the laboratory test for HBV, 98.9% that it is preventable and 94.7% about the vaccination. Most of the respondents (86.3%) associated their job with the risk of the infection and 13.7% had not received the vaccination. Only 61.1% knew that healthy carriers of HBV can infect others and 67.4% was aware that HBV is more highly infectious than HIV.
Conclusion: the participants demonstrated adequate knowledge about HBV infection but their response to its vaccination still requires motivation. The primary healthcare workers as well as other healthcare personnel should be encouraged to receive HBV vaccine to reduce the likelihood of transmission of the infection in healthcare settings.
Knowledge and attitude of community health officers towards Hepatitis B virus infection in Port Harcourt, Rivers State
Nzube Ilochonwu1,&, Omoigberai Bashiru Braimoh1
1Department of Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
&Corresponding author
Introduction: community health officers who know how to protect themselves from blood/body fluid exposures and consistently use these measures, will also help protect their patients. The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of community health officers concerning hepatitis B virus infection.
Methods: descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 95 community health officers in Rivers State. The study tool was a self-completed questionnaire. Data analysis was done with SPSS v20; descriptive and inferential statistics at 95% confidence interval were determined.
Results: 95 respondents participated in the study, with 79 (83.2%) being females. Majority of the participants, 96.8%, knew HBV affects the liver, 96.8% knew it affects any age group and 78.9% that jaundice is the major feature. Most of the participants (90.5%) knew that HBV could be transmitted through blood/body fluids, 86.3% unsterilized sharps, 83.2% vertical transmission and 72.6% unprotected sex. Majority (93.7%) of respondents knew about the laboratory test for HBV, 98.9% that it is preventable and 94.7% about the vaccination. Most of the respondents (86.3%) associated their job with the risk of the infection and 13.7% had not received the vaccination. Only 61.1% knew that healthy carriers of HBV can infect others and 67.4% was aware that HBV is more highly infectious than HIV.
Conclusion: the participants demonstrated adequate knowledge about HBV infection but their response to its vaccination still requires motivation. The primary healthcare workers as well as other healthcare personnel should be encouraged to receive HBV vaccine to reduce the likelihood of transmission of the infection in healthcare settings.
