title: A cross-sectional assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice among Hepatitis-B patients in Quetta, Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis-B is a life threatening infection resulting in 0.6 million deaths annually. The prevalence of Hepatitis-B is rising in Pakistan and furthermore, there is paucity of information about Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Hepatitis-B patients. Better disease related knowledge is important to have positive attitude and that will bring the good practices which will prevent the further spread of infection. This study aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice of Hepatitis-B Patients in Quetta city, Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, descriptive study was undertaken with 390 Hepatitis-B patients attending two public hospitals in Quetta city, Pakistan. Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding Hepatitis-B were assessed using a pre-validated questionnaire containing 20, 7 and 8 questions for knowledge, attitude and practice, respectively. Descriptive statistics were used for elaborating patients' demographic characteristics and mean scores for knowledge, attitude and practice of Hepatitis-B patients. Inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis tests, p < 0.05) were used to establish association between study variables. Spearman's rho correlation was used to identify the association between the knowledge, attitude and practice scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 390 patients, 223 (57.2%) were males, with the majority (136, 34.9%) in the age group of 38-47 years. Mean age of the study cohort was 32.6 ± 9.5 years. One hundred and four (26.7%) had primary level education, with 110 (28.2%) working in the private sector. The mean scores for knowledge, attitude and practice were 8.48 ± 2.7, 3.87 ± 1.2 and 2.37 ± 1.0, respectively. Education, locality and occupation were significantly associated with knowledge, attitude and practice scores. Significant positive linear correlations between knowledge-attitude (r = 0.466, p < 0.01) knowledge-practice (r = 0.221, p < 0.01) and attitude-practice (r = 0.224, p < 0.01) were also observed from the study results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study indicate that Hepatitis-B patients lack a basic understanding of infection control and management. This can result in the further spread of Hepatitis-B infection. Extensive health education campaigns should be provided to the patients in the hospital as well as in community settings for rational control and management of the disease.
authors: Department of Pharmacy, University of Baluchistan, Quetta, Pakistan/Discipline of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. nomanhaq79@gmail.com
authors: Noman
authors: N
authors: ul Haq
authors: Mohamed Azmi
authors: MA
authors: Hassali
authors: Asrul Akmal
authors: AA
authors: Shafie
authors: Fahad
authors: F
authors: Saleem
authors: Maryam
authors: M
authors: Farooqui
authors: Abdul
authors: A
authors: Haseeb
authors: Hisham
authors: H
authors: Aljadhey
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan
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