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Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major global health challenge. Emerging evidence suggests that poor knowledge and stigma are impacting HBV control efforts in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but their role is not well understood. We conducted a cross-sectional study of adults aged ≥18 years in a community and...

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Autores principales: Ghazzawi, Manal, Yendewa, Sahr A., James, Peter B., Massaquoi, Samuel P., Babawo, Lawrence S., Sahr, Foday, Deen, Gibrilla F., Kabba, Mustapha, Ocama, Ponsiano, Lakoh, Sulaiman, Salata, Robert A., Yendewa, George A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9859485/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36673546
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020177
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author Ghazzawi, Manal
Yendewa, Sahr A.
James, Peter B.
Massaquoi, Samuel P.
Babawo, Lawrence S.
Sahr, Foday
Deen, Gibrilla F.
Kabba, Mustapha
Ocama, Ponsiano
Lakoh, Sulaiman
Salata, Robert A.
Yendewa, George A.
author_facet Ghazzawi, Manal
Yendewa, Sahr A.
James, Peter B.
Massaquoi, Samuel P.
Babawo, Lawrence S.
Sahr, Foday
Deen, Gibrilla F.
Kabba, Mustapha
Ocama, Ponsiano
Lakoh, Sulaiman
Salata, Robert A.
Yendewa, George A.
author_sort Ghazzawi, Manal
collection PubMed
description Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major global health challenge. Emerging evidence suggests that poor knowledge and stigma are impacting HBV control efforts in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but their role is not well understood. We conducted a cross-sectional study of adults aged ≥18 years in a community and pharmacy setting in Freetown, Sierra Leone. A structured questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes and health-seeking behaviors regarding HBV. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of HBV knowledge and related stigma. A total of 306 adult participants were enrolled (50.7% male, 7.5% HBV positive and 11.7% vaccinated). Overall, 52.2% had good HBV knowledge and 49.3% expressed a stigmatizing attitude towards people with HBV. Notwithstanding, 72.2% stated they would receive the HBV vaccine if offered, 80.4% would take anti-HBV medication and 78.8% would be willing to attend clinic regularly. Good HBV knowledge was associated with HBV positive status (aOR 4.41; p = 0.029) and being vaccinated against HBV (aOR 3.30; p = 0.034). HBV-related stigma was associated with secondary or higher level of education (aOR 2.36; p < 0.001), good HBV knowledge (aOR 2.05; p = 0.006) and pharmacy setting (aOR 1.74, p = 0.037). These findings suggest that education and stigma reduction may benefit HBV elimination efforts in SSA.
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spelling pubmed-98594852023-01-21 Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study Ghazzawi, Manal Yendewa, Sahr A. James, Peter B. Massaquoi, Samuel P. Babawo, Lawrence S. Sahr, Foday Deen, Gibrilla F. Kabba, Mustapha Ocama, Ponsiano Lakoh, Sulaiman Salata, Robert A. Yendewa, George A. Healthcare (Basel) Article Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major global health challenge. Emerging evidence suggests that poor knowledge and stigma are impacting HBV control efforts in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but their role is not well understood. We conducted a cross-sectional study of adults aged ≥18 years in a community and pharmacy setting in Freetown, Sierra Leone. A structured questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes and health-seeking behaviors regarding HBV. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of HBV knowledge and related stigma. A total of 306 adult participants were enrolled (50.7% male, 7.5% HBV positive and 11.7% vaccinated). Overall, 52.2% had good HBV knowledge and 49.3% expressed a stigmatizing attitude towards people with HBV. Notwithstanding, 72.2% stated they would receive the HBV vaccine if offered, 80.4% would take anti-HBV medication and 78.8% would be willing to attend clinic regularly. Good HBV knowledge was associated with HBV positive status (aOR 4.41; p = 0.029) and being vaccinated against HBV (aOR 3.30; p = 0.034). HBV-related stigma was associated with secondary or higher level of education (aOR 2.36; p < 0.001), good HBV knowledge (aOR 2.05; p = 0.006) and pharmacy setting (aOR 1.74, p = 0.037). These findings suggest that education and stigma reduction may benefit HBV elimination efforts in SSA. MDPI 2023-01-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9859485/ /pubmed/36673546 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020177 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Ghazzawi, Manal
Yendewa, Sahr A.
James, Peter B.
Massaquoi, Samuel P.
Babawo, Lawrence S.
Sahr, Foday
Deen, Gibrilla F.
Kabba, Mustapha
Ocama, Ponsiano
Lakoh, Sulaiman
Salata, Robert A.
Yendewa, George A.
Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study
title Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_fullStr Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_short Assessment of Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Regarding Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Pharmacy and Community Setting in Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_sort assessment of knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes and health-seeking behaviors regarding hepatitis b virus infection in a pharmacy and community setting in sierra leone: a cross-sectional study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9859485/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36673546
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020177
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