Knowledge, Attitudes, and Opinions of Hepatitis B Virus Carrier Male Patients about the Disease

Abstract

Objectives: The study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and opinions of male patients infected with the hepatitis B virus about their disease. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in a military hospital in Ankara between July 2016 – July 2017. The study population consisted of 244 male patients admitted to the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the hospital within one year. No sample selection was made, and 208 patients accepted to participate were included in the study. The research data were collected by a questionnaire form consisting of 28 questions prepared by the researchers in line with the literature. For statistical analysis, IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows. Version 22.0 program was used. Results: Of the patients, 86.5% were single, 50% were primary school graduates, 65.4% were self-employed, and their mean age was 22.67±2.9. According to the data, 53.4% of the patients were HBeAg-negative, and 46.6% were HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients. Healthcare personnel was the information source for 51.9% of the patients, and 80.8% felt the need to get more information about their disease. 88.4% of the patients stated that hepatitis B disease could be transmitted through the bloodstream, and 80.7% of them stated that being vaccinated prevented them from being sick. 86.5% of the patients stated that the purpose of the treatment of hepatitis B disease was to prevent the progression of the disease. Conclusions: According to the study’s results, we determined that the patients’ knowledge and attitudes about their diseases were insufficient. Keywords: attitude, hepatitis B virus, infectious diseases, knowledge