Knowledge about hepatitis B and attitudes towards hepatitis B vaccination among university students in Thailand : A quantitative study

Introduction: Hepatitis B is a highly contagious infection. Basic knowledge about hepatitis B is necessary; with more knowledge people take preventive actions against hepatitis B, such as using stick proof cannulas. In Thailand an expected number of 8-20% of the population are currently carriers of the HBV infection. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the knowledge about hepatitis B and the attitudes towards the vaccination among Thai university students. Method: A cross-sectional study with a quantitative method was used. 280 students participated in the study, and the response rate was 93.9 %. The data was analysed using SPSS Statistics 20. Result: Both genders had poor knowledge about hepatitis B, however 91.1 % of the students had heard about hepatitis B. About half of the students (55.4 %) knew correctly that hepatitis B is sexually transmitted and 40.0 % of the students knew that hepatitis B could cause liver cancer. There was no significant difference in knowledge between the genders. The attitudes towards the vaccine were satisfactory between both genders, 89.3 % of the students knew that healthy people need the vaccination and 81.1 % believed that they would receive the vaccination. However, only 43.6 % knew that the vaccination could be free or low cost through certain programs. There was a significant difference (p-value = 0.042) between the genders; the male students had a more positive attitude towards the vaccine than the female students. Conclusion: The results from the Thai students showed that more information about the Hepatitis infection is needed to raise awareness among this certain group of people. Information about how it is transmitted is essential to improve the public health. It is also important to improve the individual's self-care, to encourage them to receive the vaccination. From a nursing point of view improving the knowledge about HBV and a positive attitude towards the vaccine in the prolonging contribute to improve the public health by getting a lower rate of cases with HBV