Attitudes towards premarital screening for hepatitis B virus infection in Iran.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the attitudes of the young adult population towards premarital screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV).


METHODS
Premarital counselling for reproductive health and testing for thalassaemia is required for couples wishing to be married in Iran. We added an information session about hepatitis B to the routine counselling programme, and then evaluated the attitudes of the enrolled population towards premarital screening for hepatitis B, through a self-administered questionnaire.


RESULTS
From a total of 1342 participants, 1316 individuals returned the questionnaires (response rate: 98.1%). In total, 73.2% of participants were in agreement with HBV screening. Male sex and higher level of education were associated with more positive attitudes towards HBV testing.


CONCLUSIONS
Conducting a universal premarital HBV screening programme would be highly acceptable in Iran.
Adibi
Peyman
P
Department of Gastroenterology, Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. adibi@med.mui.ac.ir
Hedayati
Saeid
S
Mohseni
Masood
M
D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000523:psychology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D011291:Premarital Examinations / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires