KNOWLEDGE OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS, HEPATITIS C VIRUS AND HUMAN IMMUNODEFFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) AMONG ATTENDANTS OF PATIENTS VISITING OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENTS.

Abstract

Objective:- To assess the level of knowledge regarding hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV among attendants of patients visiting OPD of a tertiary care hospital. Study design: - Cross-sectional study. Setting: -Outpatient departments of Nishtar Medical University, Multan. Subjects and methods: - Three hundred and eight attendants of patients coming to the OPDs of Nishtar Hospital Multan were included and interviewed in this cross-sectional study. Non-probability convenient sampling technique was used. All the data was entered and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Results: - Three hundred and eight subjects were interviewed. The age of subjects varied from 15-70 years. The mean age was 37.06 years ±15.59 years Two hundred and twenty three (72.4 %) were familiar with hepatitis B, 196 (63.6%) with hepatitis C and 146 (47.4%) with HIV and 133 (43.2%) were familiar with all three viruses while 81 (26.5%) were unfamiliar with these viruses. Most of the subjects 93 (30.2%) knew about the transmission through injection by un-sterilized syringes, 90 (29.2%) were knowing that infected blood is important source of spread while 87 (28.2%) of the subjects were knowing that these are spread through infected razors. 84 (27.2%) were knowing unsafe sex as a mode of transmission. Sharing objects can be the source of spread was known to very less number of people, 9 (2.9%) were aware that these can spread through sharing infected tooth brushes, 7 (2.3%) with sharing infected “Miswaks” and only 3 (1%) were aware that these can spread through infected combs. Electronic media was the major source of knowledge 82 (26.6%), interpersonal communication 69 (22.4%) and newspapers in only 1 (0.3%). Conclusion: - knowledge about hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV is low in our study population. The results of the study have shown that many people still think that HIV is the only virus which is transmitted through sexual contacts and hepatitis B and C through contaminated blood. The knowledge about the modes of transmission is lower in the rural and un-educated community. General public has very little knowledge that infected combs, infected toothbrushes and infected “Miswaks” can also lead to transmission of hepatitis B and C. Electronic media particularly television & radio and newspapers are the main source of knowledge and awareness for the urban population while in rural population it is not the case. Effective health awareness campaigns are needed to be started among rural population

Keywords: - Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV.