Impact of Educational Program on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Prisoners, Officers and Soldiers at Menoufia Governorate Prison, Egypt

Abstract

AbstractBackground: Prisons are considered facilities liable of high risk of infectious disease. Investigations carried out in prisons around the world have shown a high prevalence of blood borne hepatitis viruses. As there are few studies about-blood borne hepatitis viruses knowledge among prisoners and security personnel. Those carried with other populations, point out that the lack of knowledge about the illness is one of the main barriers to the perception of the symptoms, early diag-nosis, treatment adherence and cure.Aim of Study: To estimate the level of knowledge, attitudes and practice related to HBV and HCV infections before and after an educational intervention among security personnel and prisoners.Patients and Methods: Self-administered questionnaire was used to assess KAP of HBV and HCV infection of 324 prisoners and 68 security personals pre and post educational intervention. SPSS (Version 20) was used for analysis of data.Results: The mass media were the major source of infor-mation (44.5%). Regarding knowledge and attitude about HBV and HCV infection, highly significant improvement (p 0.05); however there was improvement in the practice of security personnel (p <0.001). Knowledge and attitude scores of security personnel were evident irrespective of socio-demographic characteristics and history of hepatitis infections. Security personnel who were of urban residence had significantlybetter pre-intervention practice (p=0.006). Overall KAP scores among prisonerswere evident irrespective of socio-demographic characteristics. HBV & HCV infected prisoners (p<0.001) were significantly more knowledgeable about these viruses before educational intervention.Conclusions: We are reporting inadequate level of HBV and HCV awareness among the studied groups. The study confirms the necessity of continuous periodic health education programs as well as immunization programs, infectious disease screening, treatment, and promotion of living conditions in prisons.