Perception and Practices relating to Hepatitis B Infection among In-school Adolescents in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

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.