A total of 271 students responded to the questionnaire with a response rate of 97.8%. Among them, 181 participants were females (66.8%), while the remaining 90 (33.2%) were males. In terms of age, the participants were young adults aged between 18 and 26 years with a mean age of (20.93 ± 1.62) years.
In terms of the vaccination status, only 66 (24.4%) of the participants had been vaccinated at the time of the study, while 205 (75.6%) were never vaccinated.
All participants were residing in the three localities of Khartoum State, namely, Khartoum, North Khartoum, and Omdurman, with a distribution of 194 (71.6%), 40 (14.8%), and 37 (13.6%), respectively.
In terms of the study level, 106 (39.1%) participants were in the second year of college, 79 (29.2%) were in the third year, and 86 (31.7%) were in the fourth year.
According to the score of correct answers for the 19 knowledge items, 60.4% of participants had good knowledge about HBV, while 39.6% had poor knowledge. For all participants, the mean knowledge score was 13.79 ± 2.99. The knowledge items, frequency, and percentages of correct responses of study participants are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Frequency of correct responses of the study participants to Knowledge items about HBV (n = 271)
Knowledge Item
|
Frequency
|
Percentage (%)
|
Hepatitis B is a viral infection
|
253
|
93.4
|
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease
|
243
|
89.7
|
Hepatitis B can affect any age group
|
227
|
83.8
|
What is the course of hepatitis B disease?
|
173
|
63.8
|
People can get Hepatitis B through the air
|
145
|
53.5
|
Hepatitis B can be transmitted through use of unsafe needles or sharps
|
251
|
92.6
|
Hepatitis B can be transmitted by transfusion of blood & blood products
|
261
|
96.3
|
Hepatitis B can be transmitted by contact with infected blood or body fluids
|
240
|
88.6
|
Hepatitis B can be transmitted from mother to her fetus
|
196
|
72.3
|
Hepatitis B can be transmitted by sharing spoons or bowls for food
|
152
|
56.1
|
Hepatitis B can be transmitted by eating food prepared by an infected person
|
177
|
65.3
|
Hepatitis B can be transmitted by sharing a toothbrush with an infected person
|
175
|
64.6
|
Early symptoms of Hepatitis B are same like cold and flu
|
144
|
53.1
|
Jaundice is one of the common symptoms of Hepatitis B
|
211
|
77.9
|
Are there no symptoms of hepatitis B in some of patients?
|
139
|
51.3
|
Hepatitis B can cause liver cancer
|
197
|
72.7
|
Is Hepatitis B curable/treatable?
|
128
|
47.2
|
Is a laboratory test available for Hepatitis B?
|
233
|
85.9
|
Is vaccination available for Hepatitis B?
|
192
|
70.8
|
Overall, 85% of the study participants had a positive attitude toward HBV prevention, while only 15% had a negative attitude. For all participants, the mean attitude score was 2.12 ± 0.71. The attitude items, frequency, and percentages of participants’ responses were as follow: regarding the question (Do you consider wearing gloves when dealing with biological materials can prevent you from getting HBV infection?) a total of 247 (91.1%) answer yes, the remaining responses (24, 8.9%) were no. When it comes to the question (Are you willing to be screened for hepatitis B after a needle or sharp stick?) 217/271 (80.1%) responded with Yes answer. When the participants asked (do you think that person with Hepatitis B should be isolated from other people to prevent spreading of infection?) a total of 160/271 (59.05) responded with yes answer, whereas 111/271 (41.0%) responded with no.
Overall, 80.5% of study participants had good practices related to the prevention and protection from HBV, while only 19.5% had poor practices. For all participants, the mean practice score was 2.41 ± 1.10. The practice items, frequency, and percentages of participants’ responses are shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Responses of study participants for practices related to HBV items (n = 271)
Practice item
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Have you ever done screening for Hepatitis B?
|
Yes
|
121
|
44.6
|
No
|
150
|
55.4
|
Do you ask for screening of blood before transfusion?
|
Yes
|
206
|
76.0
|
No
|
65
|
24.0
|
Do you ask for a new syringe before use?
|
Yes
|
228
|
84.1
|
No
|
43
|
15.9
|
Have you ever participated in health education program related to Hepatitis B?
|
Yes
|
97
|
35.8
|
No
|
174
|
64.2
|
Among the study participants, a statistically significant positive correlation was observed between knowledge and attitude scores (R = 0.116, P = .000), whereas the correlation between knowledge and practice scores was statistically insignificant (R = 0.213, P = .056).
Regarding the overall score of awareness about HBV, the mean score for all participants was 18.3 ± 3.55. Moreover, 64.2% of participants had satisfactory awareness, whereas 35.8% had unsatisfactory awareness about HBV. Concerning the study level, a statistically significant difference was observed in the awareness level between students in the second, third, and fourth years (χ2 = 35.759, P = 0.000). The highest awareness level was observed among students in the fourth year of study as 83.7% of them had satisfactory awareness about HBV, compared to 43.4%, and 70.9% for the second and third year of study respectively.
Regression analysis revealed that among the selected sociodemographic variables, only the study level was a statistically significant predictor of awareness about HBV (P = .000). In this model, being at the fourth year of study was associated with satisfactory awareness about HBV compared with the second and third years of study (OR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.188–0.889) (Table 3).
Table 3
Logistic regression model for prediction of students' awareness about HBV
|
B
|
S.E.
|
Wald
|
p. value
|
Odds Ratio
|
95% C.I.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lower
|
Upper
|
Age
|
-0.175
|
0.104
|
2.829
|
0.093
|
0.84
|
0.685
|
1.029
|
Gender
|
-0.06
|
0.305
|
0.039
|
0.844
|
0.942
|
0.517
|
1.714
|
Residence
|
|
|
0.055
|
0.973
|
|
|
|
Residence (1)
|
-0.086
|
0.4
|
0.046
|
0.829
|
0.917
|
0.419
|
2.009
|
Residence (2)
|
-0.105
|
0.502
|
0.044
|
0.834
|
0.9
|
0.337
|
2.408
|
Level
|
|
|
30.719
|
0.000
|
|
|
|
Level (1)
|
-2.304
|
0.431
|
28.579
|
0.000
|
0.1
|
0.043
|
0.232
|
Level (2)
|
-0.894
|
0.396
|
5.089
|
0.024
|
0.409
|
0.188
|
0.889
|
Constant
|
5.597
|
2.342
|
5.711
|
0.017
|
269.54
|
|
|