A STUDY ON KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF HEPATITIS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN OF LAHORE
| Main Author: | Dr. Aqsa Tariq, Dr. Sajeela Riaz, Dr. Maemoona Ahmad |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article Journal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/1491766 |
Daftar Isi:
- Introduction: Hepatitis B is one of the major global health infectious diseases affecting the liver. It is estimated that, globally, over 2 billion people have been infected with Hepatitis B virus and an estimated 240 million people are chronic carriers of the virus. Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the regions with the highest prevalence of HBV. Objectives of the study: The main objective of the study is to find the Knowledge and awareness of Hepatitis infection among pregnant women of Lahore, Pakistan. Material and methods: This study was conducted at Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore during January 2018 to May 2018. The group of participants comprised only pregnant females and inclusion criteria required participants to be 18 years of age and provide signed, informed consent. A sample size of 100 individuals was targeted. Assuming a response rate of 75–80%, 75 completed questionnaires would yield a power of 80% with a 5% type 1 error rate to detect a 16% difference when comparing dichotomous variables between two groups of equal size. Results: The majority of respondents could provide correct responses about the common aspects of HBV infection, including screening, blood-borne and perinatal transmissions, prevention by vaccination, and sequelae of HBV infection. The mean knowledge score was 6.73 ± 3.04 (mean ± SD) and the median was 7.0. Only 21.0% of participants were able to answer all the general knowledge questions correctly, including 43.3% who knew that infection with HBV could be asymptomatic. Conclusion: It is concluded that knowledge and awareness of HBV among pregnant women in the Pakistan is low. Generalized across the country, this could have the potential to hamper effective HBV prevention and control in Pakistan.