Knowledge of healthcare workers on vertical transmission of hepatitis at a secondary healthcare facility in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Viral hepatitis is a major global public health challenge. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) lead to chronic diseases in several millions of people. They can be spread by mother to child transmission (MTCT) at birth. Awareness of healthcare workers (HCWs) on MTCT of HBV and HCV is key in the prevention. Hence, we sought to assess the knowledge of HCWs on MTCT as a route of transmission of the HBV and HCV.

Methods: The study was cross-sectional. Respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique. Data collection was by self-administered questionnaires and data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. Chi-square test was done to determine the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and the level of knowledge, and at 95% confidence interval, a P-value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Results: Eighty-one HCWs participated in this study, with 50 (51.7%) females. The mean knowledge score was 7.76 ± 1.60 with 22 (27.2%) of the respondents having good knowledge. Twenty-two (27.2%) and 24 (29.6%) of the HCWs knew respectively that HBV and HCV could be by MTCT. There was a statistically significant relationship between cadre of HCW and level of knowledge (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: Most of the HCWs had poor knowledge on MTCT of viral hepatitis. Majority of them did not know MTCT as a route of transmission of viral hepatitis. We recommend that HCWs need retraining to improve knowledge on MTCT of viral hepatitis.