Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Blood Donors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Spread :

Abstract

Background: The public health burden of Hepatitis B virus infection in Uganda is unknown, although the country has long been considered to be among the highly endemic countries of sub-Saharan Africa (Pido and Kagimu, 2005). General objective: The overall aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding Hepatitis B Virus spread among blood donors in Nakasero Blood Bank-Kampala. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional design. Ninety (90) respondents were included by means of simple random sampling and a pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect information from the respondents. Results: Majority (65.5%) indicated unprotected sex with an infected person to cause Hepatitis B Virus infection, 23.3% did not have any idea of the habits that could expose to Hepatitis B infection, 48.9% had no idea about the number of doses a client get of Hepatitis B vaccine and 51.1% had no knowledge of how Hepatitis B infection could be prevented. Majority (88.9%) supported the view that everyone needs vaccination against Hepatitis B Virus, 81.1% would purchase Hepatitis B vaccine if it was not free, 61.1% considered every person as carrying a blood borne pathogen and 62.2% considered themselves at risk of Hepatitis B infection. More than half (53.3%) of the respondents had never been tested against Hepatitis B and 72.2% had never been vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Conclusion: There was a linear relationship between Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Hepatitis B Virus. Thus, it was shown that Knowledge, Attitude and Practice had 89.5% variation on Hepatitis B Virus at Nakasero Blood Bank. Therefore, limited knowledge, moderate attitude and inadequate practice among blood donors influenced Hepatitis B Virus to a level of 89.5%. Recommendation: Extensive health education campaigns should be provided to the general public. Physicians, pharmacists and nurses should play a role in developing a collaborative care model to provide education to the public.