A Community-Based Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Hepatitis B among Residents in a Coastal Village of Southern India

Introduction: The National Viral Hepatitis Control Program launched by the Government of India aims to end viral hepatitis by the year 2030. The main key objective of the programme is to enhance community awareness about the virus, the disease and the preventive measures for tackling the burden of hepatitis. Lack of knowledge and awareness regarding the disease, its modes of spread and the available preventive strategies would seriously limit in achieving the goal of reduction in burden and elimination of HBV. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice on epidemiology of Hepatitis B among residents in a coastal village of Puducherry, Southern India. Method: A community-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted for three months among 796 adults aged ≥18 years residing in a coastal village which was one of the rural field practice areas of a private medical college in Puducherry. Multi-stage sampling technique was followed. A pre-validated, semi-structured questionnaire incorporated in Epicollect 5 software was utilized to capture the data through face-to-face interviews. The data analysis was performed using SPSS, v24.0. Results: About 66.3% of participants had heard of Hepatitis with 55.9% specifically aware of Hepatitis B as a viral disease. More than half (59.3%) believed they could contract Hepatitis B. About three-fourth (73.1%) had not undergone screening for Hepatitis B, and 67.1% had not received the Hepatitis B vaccination. Age, gender and socio-economic status of the respondents were associated with knowledge attitude and practice on Hepatitis B among participants which was found to be statistically significant (p-value < 0.0001). Conclusion: The findings from the study showed that more than two third of participants had heard of Hepatitis. More than half of the respondents believed they could contract Hepatitis B. Nearly two-third respondents had not received Hepatitis B vaccination.