Open AccessHEPATITIS B, HEPATITIS C a HIV
Author(s) -
Ijaz-ul-Haque Taseer,
Ahsanullah M Mirbahar,
Ahsanullah M Mirbahar,
Laiq Hussain,
Muhammad Aftab Akbar,
Sohail Safdar
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the professional medical journal/the professional medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2071-7733
pISSN - 1024-8919
DOI - 10.29309/tpmj/2009.16.03.2794
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis , transmission (telecommunications) , cross sectional study , hepatitis c , hepatitis b , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , informed consent , family medicine , pediatrics , demography , alternative medicine , pathology , electrical engineering , sociology , engineering
Objective: To assess the level of knowledge regarding hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV among general public of peripheralareas of Multan. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Peripheral areas of Multan, village Budhla Sunnat, kusba Ayazabad Marrhaland PMRC Research Centre Nishtar Medical College Multan. Duration of study: From 01.05.2007 to 30.04.2008. Subjects and methods:Medical camps were established in peripheral areas of Multan, village Budhla Sunnat and kusba Ayazabad Marrhal. It was a cross-sectionalstudy which was carried out using non-probability convenient sampling technique. Subjects of both sexes and adult age attending these medicalcamps were included in the study. Informed consent was taken and confidentiality of the personal information was ensured. Specially designedProforma was filled in by the Research Officers and data entered in SPSS-11 and analyzed. Results: Three hundred and eight subjects wereinterviewed. The age of subjects varied from 15-70 years. The mean age was 37.06 years ± 15.59 years. Two hundred and twenty three (72.4%) were familiar with hepatitis B, 196 (63.6%) with hepatitis C and 146 (47.4%) with HIV and 133 (43.2%) were familiar with all three viruseswhile 81 (26.5%) were unfamiliar with these viruses. Most of the subjects 93 (30.2%) knew about the transmission through injection by unsterilizedsyringes, 90 (29.2%) were knowing that infected blood is important source of spread while 87 (28.2%) of the subjects were knowingthat these are spread through infected razors, 84 (27.2%) were knowing unsafe sex as a mode of transmission. Sharing objects can be thesource of spread was known to very less number of people, 9 (2.9%) were aware that these can spread through sharing infected tooth brushes,7 (2.3%) with sharing infected "Miswaks" and only 3 (1 %) were aware that these can spread through infected combs. Electronic media was themajor source of knowledge 82 (26.6%), interpersonal communication 69 (22.4%) and newspapers in only 1 (0.3%). Conclusion: knowledgeabout hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV is low in our study population. The results of the study have shown that many people still think that