Asian Liver Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, United States of America.
General Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Vietnam.
PLoS One. 2019 Oct 14;14(10):e0223733. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223733. eCollection 2019.
Vietnam's burden of liver cancer is largely due to its high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This study aimed to examine healthcare workers' (HCWs) knowledge, attitude and practices regarding HBV prevention and management.
A cross-sectional survey among health care workers working at primary and tertiary facilities in two Northern provinces in Vietnam in 2017. A standardized questionnaire was administered to randomly selected HCWs. Multivariate regression was used to identify predictors of the HBV knowledge score.
Among the 314 participants, 75.5% did not know HBV infection at birth carries the highest risk of developing chronic infection. The median knowledge score was 25 out of 42 (59.5%). About one third (30.2%) wrongly believed that HBV can be transmitted through eating or sharing food with chronic hepatitis B patients. About 38.8% did not feel confident that the hepatitis B vaccine is safe. Only 30.1% provided correct answers to all the questions on injection safety. Up to 48.2% reported they consistently recap needles with two hands after injection, a practice that would put them at greater risk of needle stick injury. About 24.2% reported having been pricked by a needle at work within the past 12 months. More than 40% were concerned about having casual contact or sharing food with a person with chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB). In multivariate analysis, physicians scored significantly higher compared to other healthcare professionals. Having received training regarding hepatitis B within the last two years was also significantly associated with a better HBV knowledge score.
Findings from the survey indicated an immediate need to implement an effective hepatitis B education and training program to build capacity among Vietnam's healthcare workers in hepatitis B prevention and control and to dispel hepatitis B stigma.
越南的肝癌负担在很大程度上是由于其慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染的高流行率所致。本研究旨在调查医护人员（HCWs）对乙型肝炎预防和管理的知识、态度和实践。
2017 年，在越南两个北部省份的基层和三级医疗机构对医护人员进行了横断面调查。对随机选择的 HCWs 进行了标准化问卷调查。采用多元回归分析确定 HBV 知识评分的预测因素。
在 314 名参与者中，75.5%的人不知道乙型肝炎病毒感染在出生时具有发展为慢性感染的最高风险。知识评分中位数为 42 分中的 25 分（59.5%）。约三分之一（30.2%）错误地认为乙型肝炎病毒可以通过与慢性乙型肝炎患者一起进食或分享食物传播。约 38.8%的人对乙型肝炎疫苗的安全性没有信心。只有 30.1%的人对所有关于注射安全的问题都给出了正确答案。高达 48.2%的人报告说，他们在注射后一直用双手重新盖上针头，这种做法会使他们面临更大的针刺伤风险。约 24.2%的人报告在过去 12 个月内曾在工作中被针刺伤。超过 40%的人担心与慢性乙型肝炎感染者（CHB）有偶然接触或共享食物。在多变量分析中，医生的得分明显高于其他医疗保健专业人员。在过去两年内接受过乙型肝炎培训也与更好的 HBV 知识评分显著相关。
调查结果表明，迫切需要实施有效的乙型肝炎教育和培训计划，以提高越南医护人员在乙型肝炎预防和控制方面的能力，并消除乙型肝炎的耻辱感。
