Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- . Dinesh Kumar Upadhyay 1
- . Yuvati Manirajan 2
- . Muhammad Zahid Iqbal 1
- . Neeraj Paliwal 3
- . Sonam Pandey 4
1 Unit of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, AIMST University, Kedah, Malaysia
2 Faculty of Pharmacy, AIMST University, Kedah, Malaysia
3 Unit of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, AIMST University, Kedah, Malaysia
4 Independent Researcher, Kedah, Malaysia
Abstract
Objective: The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and
practice (KAP) of 3rd- and 4th-year medical, dental, and pharmacy students
about hepatitis B (HB) infection at a private medical university, Malaysia.
Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among
482 medical, dental, and pharmacy students of 3rd- and 4th-year degree program
of Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology University to assess their
KAP about HB infection using 34 prevalidated questions by convenient sampling
method. A questionnaire was administered to the students, and their responses
were measured at “yes” and “no” scale. Students’ responses were entered in
SPSS version 22, and quantitative analysis was performed using descriptive
statistics and nonparametric tests at P < 0.05. Findings: The medical, dental,
and pharmacy students had good knowledge and practice with positive attitude
about HB infection. Mann–Whitney U‑test determined a significant difference
in knowledge (P < 0.001) and practice (P < 0.001) scores between medical
and pharmacy, attitude (P < 0.001) scores between medical and dental, and
attitude (P < 0.001) and practice (P < 0.001) scores between pharmacy and dental
students. Students’ age was correlated with their attitude, practice, and KAP scores
and family income with their knowledge, attitude, practice, and KAP scores.
Conclusion: Although students’ knowledge and practice were good with positive
attitude, all the students did not participate in health education program, screening,
and vaccination of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection which makes them more
vulnerable to occupational HBV infection. Hence, it is recommended to organize
a regular health education program for the students on screening and vaccination
against HBV to prevent its infection.
Keywords
Knowledge, attitude and practices concerning hepatitis
B infection, among medical students in urban area of
Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Int J Community Med Public Health
2018;5:3635-8.
2. World Health Organization. Hepatitis B. Fact Sheet; 2019.
Available from: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/
detail/hepatitis-b. [Last accessed on 2019 Sep 15].
3. Afihene MY, Duduyemi BM, Hannah-Lisa A, Khatib M.
Knowledge, attitude and practices concerning hepatitis
B infection, among healthcare workers in Bantama,
Ghana: A cross sectional study. Int J Community Med
Public Health 2017;2:244-53.
4. Rathi A, Kumar V, Majhi J, Jain S, Lal P, Singh S. Assessment of
knowledge, attitude, and practices toward prevention of hepatitis
B infection among medical students in a high-risk setting
of a newly established medical institution. J Lab Physicians
2018;10:374-9.
5. National Strategic Plan for Hepatitis B and C 2019-2023.
Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2019. Available from: http://www.
moh.gov.my/moh/resources/Penerbitan/Pelan%20Strategik%20/
NSP_Hep_BC_2019_2023.pdf. [Last accessed on 2019 Sep 10].
6. Rajamoorthy Y, Taib NM, Munusamy S, Anwar S, Wagner AL,
Mudatsir M, et al. Knowledge and awareness of hepatitis B
among households in Malaysia: A community-based crosssectional survey. BMC Public Health 2019;19:47.
7. Geberemicheal A, Gelaw A, Moges F, Dagnaw M. Seroprevalence
of hepatitis B virus infections among health care workers at the
Bulle Hora Woreda Governmental Health Institutions, Southern
Oromia, Ethiopia. J Environ Occup Sci 2013;2:9-14.
8. Nazri NN, Rahman NA, Shafri MA, Rahman NI, Haque M.
Knowledge, attitude, and practice of Malaysian Public University
students on viral hepatitis. Adv Hum Biol 2019;9:46-53.
9. Ghouri A, Aslam SO, Iqbal YA, Shah AA. Knowledge and
Awareness of Hepatitis B among Students of a Public Sector
University. Isra Med J Pak 2015;7:95-100.
10. ul Haq N, Hassali MA, Shafie AA, Saleem F, Farooqui M,
Aljadhey H. A cross sectional assessment of knowledge, attitude
and practice towards Hepatitis B among healthy population of
Quetta, Pakistan. BMC Public Health 2012;12:692.
11. Darwish MA, Al Khaldi NM. Knowledge about hepatitis B virus
infection among medical students in University of Dammam,
eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Life Sci J 2013;10:860-7.
12. Paul P, Arumugam B. Knowledge, and awareness regarding
hepatitis B infection among medical and dental students:
A comparative cross-sectional study. Int J Res Med Sci
2015;3:2352-6.
13. Alhowaish MA, Alhowaish JA, Alanazi YH, Alshammari MM,
Alshammari MS, Alshamari NG, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and
practices toward prevention of hepatitis B virus infection among
medical students at Northern Border University, Arar, Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia. Electron Physician 2017;9:5388-94.
14. Abdela A, Woldu B, Haile K, Mathewos B, Deressa T.
Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices toward
prevention of hepatitis B virus infection among students of
medicine and health sciences in Northwest Ethiopia. BMC Res
Notes 2016;9:410.
15. Ibrahim N, Idris A. Hepatitis B awareness among medical
students and their vaccination status at Syrian Private University.
Hepat Res Treat 2014;2014:131920.
16. Noubiap JJ, Nansseu JR, Kengne KK, Tchokfe Ndoula S,
Agyingi LA. Occupational exposure to blood, hepatitis B vaccine
knowledge and uptake among medical students in Cameroon.
BMC Med Educ 2013;13:148.
17. Mesfin YM, Kibret KT. Assessment of knowledge and practice
towards hepatitis B among medical and health science students
in Haramaya University, Ethiopia. PLoS One 2013;8:e79642.
18. Al-Hazmi AH. Knowledge, attitudes and practice of dentists
concerning the occupational risks of hepatitis B virus in Al Jouf
Province, Saudi Arabia. Niger J Clin Pract 2015;18:276-81.
19. Othman SM, Saleh AM, Shabila NP. Knowledge about hepatitis
B infection among medical students in Erbil city, Iraq. Eur Sci J
2013;3:1857-881.
20. Saquib S, Ibrahim W, Othman A, Assiri M, AlShari H, Al-Qarni A. Exploring the knowledge, attitude and
practice regarding hepatitis B infection among dental students
in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study. Open Access Maced J
Med Sci 2019;7:805-9.
21. Aovi FI, Rahman MM. Hepatitis B awareness and vaccination
status among pharmacy students at a private university,
Bangladesh. Pharmacol Online 2019;1:85-93. Available from:
http://pharmacologyonline.silae.it/. [Last accessed on 2019 Dec 12].
22. Osei E, Niyilapah J, Amenuvegbe GK. Hepatitis B knowledge,
testing, and vaccination history among undergraduate public
health students in Ghana. BioMed Res Int 2019;2019:1-10.
23. Gayathri MM. Knowledge, Awareness and Attitude among
Dental Students about Hepatitis B Infection. J Pharma Sci Res
2016;8:168-70.
24. Al-Mahmood SM. Knowledge and awareness of hepatitis B and
its associated factors among students of medical faculties at the
International Islamic University Malaysia’s Kuantan Campus. Int
J Care Scholars 2018;1:19-21.
25. Akibu M, Nurgi S, Tadese M, Tsega WD. Attitude and Vaccination Status of Healthcare Workers against Hepatitis B Infection
in a Teaching Hospital, Ethiopia. Scientifica 2018;2018:18. Available from: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/
scientifica/2018/6705305/. [Last accessed on 2019 Dec 15].
26. Hussain SF, Ahmad SR, Muslehuddin OM, Muslehuddin HM.
Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding hepatitis B
among medical students. Int J Community Med Public Health
2016;3:2977-81.
27. Mansour-Ghanaei R, Joukar F, Souti F, Atrkar-Roushan Z.
Knowledge and attitude of medical science students toward
hepatitis B and C infections. Int J Clin Exp Med 2013;6:197-
205.
28. Li X, Kang H, Wang S, Deng Z, Yang T, Jia Y, et al. Knowledge,
attitude, and behavior of hepatitis B virus infection among
Chinese dental interns. Hepat Mon 2015;15:e25079.
29. Quang Vo T, Ngoc Do A, Thanh Tran T. Current status of
knowledge about and attitudes toward the hepatitis B virus at a
private university in Southern Vietnam: A cross-sectional selfreported study. Asian J Pharma 2018;12:S99-112.
30. Pervaiz M, Gilbert R, Ali N. The prevalence and underreporting
of needlestick injuries among dental healthcare workers in
Pakistan: A systematic review. Int J Dent 2018;2018:9609038.
31. Saleem T, Khalid U, Ishaque S, Zafar A. Knowledge, attitudes
and practices of medical students regarding needle stick injuries.
J Pak Med Assoc 2010;60:151-6.
32. Askarian M, Malekmakan L. The prevalence of needle stick
injuries in medical, dental, nursing and midwifery students at the
university teaching hospitals of Shiraz, Iran. Indian J Med Sci
2006;60:227-32.
33. Demsiss W, Seid A, Fiseha T. Hepatitis B and C: Seroprevalence,
knowledge, practice and associated factors among medicine
and health science students in Northeast Ethiopia. PLoS One
2018;13:e0196539.
34. Al-Jabri AA, Al-Adawi S, Al-Abri JH, Al-Dhahry SH. Awareness
of hepatitis B virus among undergraduate medical and nonmedical students. Saudi Med J 2004;25:484-7.
35. Iqbal M, Raza FA, Anwar O, Rakhia A. Knowledge, attitude and
practice of MBBS students regarding hepatitis B and C: A cross
sectional survey at Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad.
Ann Punjab Med Coll 2018;12:128-32.
36. Pathmanathan H, Lakshmanan P. Assessment of awareness
and knowledge of hepatitis B among the residents of Puchong,
Malaysia. Trop J Pharma Res 2014;13:1719-24.
37. Khan N, Ahmed SM, Khalid MM, Siddiqui SH, Merchant AA.
Effect of gender and age on the knowledge, attitude and practice
regarding hepatitis B and C and vaccination status of hepatitis B
among medical students of Karachi, Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc
2010;60:450-5.
)