Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection in Pregnancy: Knowledge and Practice of Care Providers in Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the practice of obstetric care providers regarding routine screening for hepatitis B virus infection, and to assess their knowledge of the management of the positive pregnant women. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study of obstetric care providers in southwestern Nigeria. Mean and standard deviation was used to summarize continuous variables while frequency and percentage was used for categorical variables. Categorical variables were compared with chi-square test and Fisher’s exact tests as appropriate; while continuous variables were compared using the t-test. The level of statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Scoring of the outcome variables for knowledge was done, and the score categorized into good and poor knowledge, depending on if the respondent scored above or below the mean score. Results: Three hundred and eighty-one (67.4%) of the care givers routinely screen pregnant women for the serum marker (HBSAg) of HBV infection. Two hundred and seventy-four (48.5%) of the respondents had good knowledge score of the management of HBV infection in pregnancy. Routine screening for HBV infection was significantly associated with age (p = 0.002), years of practice (p