A Study of Compliance to Hepatitis B Vaccination Among Health Workers in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Institution

Abstract

Hepatitis B infection is a universal health problem. Around 300-400 million carriers are estimated worldwide. Fortunately, there are effective vaccines against the virus, which are about 95% effective. This descriptive retrospective study was conducted at the staff clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The vaccination register used in the clinic was obtained and the records of all the health workers vaccinated from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2007 were extracted and used in the survey. A total of 884 members of staff on the vaccination register were included in this study. A majority of the respondents (81.9%) were within 21 – 50 years of age. Male respondents constitute 46.5% of all respondents. Of all the respondents (100%) who took the 1st dose of the vaccine, 76.5% came back for the 2nd dose while only 48.6% presented for the 3rd dose of the vaccine. Slightly more than half (51.4%) of all the respondents who initiated immunisation did not complete same. Though only 10.5% of all respondents were vaccinated in 2007, almost all of them (93.5%) defaulted in coming back for either the second or third dose of the vaccine or both. Only 430 (48.6%) respondents were fully immunized. Poor compliance of Health workers to hepatitis B vaccination is an issue that deserves serious attention. There is a need for more research into this issue to uncover the factors responsible for poor compliance to vaccination campaigns.

Key words: Defaulters, Health Workers, Hepatitis B Vaccination