Open AccessPerception and Practices relating to Hepatitis B Infection among In-school Adolescents in Ogun State, Nigeria
Author(s) -
Titilayo Olaoye,
Catherine Agbede,
Fredrick O. Oshiname
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
babcock university medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2756-4657
pISSN - 2465-6666
DOI - 10.38029/bumj.v4i1.57
Subject(s) - ogun state , medicine , hepatitis b , multistage sampling , descriptive statistics , perception , hepatitis b virus , seriousness , nonprobability sampling , demography , family medicine , environmental health , psychology , immunology , population , pathology , geography , statistics , virus , mathematics , archaeology , neuroscience , sociology , political science , local government , law
Objective: This study examined the perception and practices relating to Hepatitis B infection among In-school adolescents in Ogun State, Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 300 in-school adolescents selected by a multi-stage sampling method. Data were elicited using a pretested self-administered questionnaire which included questions relating to respondents' risky practices, and a 35-point Hepatitis B perception scale. Descriptive statistics, as well as Chi-square statistics, were generated using IBM SPSS Version 23, and the significance level was set at 0.05.Results: The mean age of the respondents was 14.31 ± 1.73years and slightly over half (51.7%) were females. Less than half (45%) of the adolescents perceived themselves to be susceptible to Hepatitis B infection, while 31% perceived Hepatitis B infection to be a serious disease. Almost half (49%) of the adolescents had unfavorable perceptions. The most common risky practices among the respondents were sharing skin-piercing instruments with their family members (79%) and friends (68.7%). There are significant associations between sex (gender) and risky practices such as the practices of unsafe sex (X2= 9.11; p=0.10); having multiple sexual partners (X2= 12.08; p =0.02); and sharing skin-piercing instruments (X2= 5.52; p=0.01) with more males reporting the above practices than females.Conclusion/Recommendation: To minimize the identified risky practices and unfavorable perception, educational intervention programs aimed at promoting Hepatitis B virus preventive behaviors and increasing the level of perception of vulnerability and seriousness of HBV infection among in-school adolescents should be conducted.