Knowledge and Attitude Towards Hepatitis B Patients among Physiotherapy Students- A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is associated with hepatocellular necrosis and inflammationof the liver, ranging from asymptomatic infection to rarely fulminant hepatitis. According to the WorldHealth Organization (WHO), there has been a report of past or current HBV infection among 240 billionpeople around the world, and 340 million chronic HBV surface antigens carriers. Hepatitis B poses a majoroccupational danger to all healthcare profession. Thus the purpose of this study is to assess the knowledgeand attitude of Hepatitis B among 3rd and 4th year physiotherapy students.Material & Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out with sample size of (n=272) involved3rd and 4thyear BPT students as per the number of students in per year from three relevant physiotherapycolleges. A self-administered validated questionnaire comprising of 51 questions was used to assess theknowledge and attitude towards hepatitis B patients among 3rd and 4thyear BPT students.Results: The overall mean of knowledge and attitude was 17.86±3.739 with p value 0.001, whereas oncomparison between 3rd and 4th year BPT students, 4th year BPT students reported more knowledge comparedto 3rd year BPT students.Conclusions: The study reported that although 3rd and 4th year BPT students had knowledge about hepatitisB however there is a need to educate them to improve their knowledge in the area of practicing universalsafeguards, combating fear while handling high risk patients to avoid discriminatory attitude towards thebeginning of 3rd year