A Survey of Knowledge regarding viral hepatitis among general population of Mashhad, Iran in 2017

The infections caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the most common causes of liver injury. In this regard, this study aimed to determine the awareness of general population about these two infections in Mashhad, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, all 15-year-individuals and older ones came to the site of the awareness campaign for viral hepatitis in the two large parks of Mashhad on July 28 in 2017 (World Hepatitis Day). The subjects were invited to complete a questionnaire with 12 multiple-choice questions about the knowledge of HBV and HCV infections. The knowledge score was calculated by giving one score to each correct answer and zero for a wrong answer or unanswered question. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 19). Totally, 362 individuals with a mean age of 37.6± 15.2 years answered the questions. The mean score of knowledge was 48.38±20.18. The highest percentage of the correct answers was related to the meaning of the word “hepatitis” (76.8%), and the lowest rate was related to the necessity of HBV vaccination for all the community (21.5%). Furthermore, in this study, 68% of the people stated that HBV carriers could get married; however, 41.7% believed that mothers with HBV infection should avoid breastfeeding. There was no significant relationship between the knowledge of hepatitis with age (P=0.07), gender (P=0.92), marital status (P=0.14), and educational level (P=0.08). Our findings revealed a low level of public awareness about the transmission and prevention routes of HBV and HCV infections in Mashhad, Iran.