Attitudes and Awareness Regarding Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Amongst Health-care Workers of a Tertiary Hospital in India

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis is an inflammatory disease of the liver. In sever cases, it may lead to permanent liver damage including liver cirrhosis or hepato-cellular carcinoma and may ultimately lead to death. Health-care workers (HCWs), due to their regular contact with patients are at a high-risk of acquiring this disease. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude toward hepatitis B and C infection among the health-care interns and correlate the level of awareness to the attitude they behold toward the disease. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A closed ended questionnaire consisting of questions to evaluate the knowledge regarding hepatitis B and C infection and attitude of the (HCWs/interns) was duly filled by 255 participants including, 100 dental, 100 medical, and 55 nursing interns. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Chi-square test, ANOVA test, post-hoc test and Pearson's correlation. RESULTS: Although most of the interns were aware of the existence of hepatitis B and C infection, the level of awareness regarding the modes of transmission and vaccination was found to be dissatisfactory. Awareness level regarding the infection among nursing interns was statistically significantly lower than the dental and medical interns. A direct positive correlation as found between awareness score and behavior score, which reveals that interns with better awareness level had better attitudes toward the infection and prevention of its transmission. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to increase the level and quality of training among HCWs to prevent the spread of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus.