Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
Gilead Sciences, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021 Aug;36(8):2292-2302. doi: 10.1111/jgh.15496. Epub 2021 Mar 30.
Despite efforts in controlling and managing liver diseases, significant health issues remain. This study aims to evaluate the degree of public awareness and knowledge regarding liver health and diseases in Singapore.
A cross-sectional, self-reported, web-based questionnaire was administered to 500 adult individuals. Questionnaire items pertained to knowledge and awareness of overall liver health, liver diseases and their associated risk factors.
Sixty-four percent of respondents were ≥35 years old and 54.0% were male. While majority agreed that regular screening was important for liver health (91.2%), only 65.4% attended health screening within recent 2 years. Hepatitis B had more awareness than hepatitis C among the respondents. About 70% agreed the consequences of viral hepatitis included liver cirrhosis, failure, and/or cancer. Yet, only 15% knew hepatitis C is not preventable by vaccination and more than half mistaken hepatitis B and C are transmissible via contaminated or raw seafood. Despite 75% being aware of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, many were not aware of the related risk factors and complications. Awareness of specific screening and diagnostic tests for liver health was poor as one-fifth correctly identified the diagnostic tests for viral hepatitis. Preferences for doctor's consultation, TV, or newspapers (online) as information channels contrasted those currently used in the public health education efforts.
The levels of understanding of liver diseases, risk factors, and potential complications are suboptimal among the Singapore public. More public education efforts aligned with respondents' information-seeking preferences could facilitate addressing misperceptions and increase knowledge about liver diseases.
尽管在控制和管理肝脏疾病方面做出了努力，但仍存在重大健康问题。本研究旨在评估新加坡公众对肝脏健康和疾病的认知程度。
采用横断面、自我报告的网络问卷调查了 500 名成年个体。问卷内容涉及对整体肝脏健康、肝脏疾病及其相关危险因素的知识和认知。
64%的受访者年龄≥35 岁，54.0%为男性。虽然大多数人认为定期筛查对肝脏健康很重要（91.2%），但只有 65.4%的人在最近 2 年内进行了健康筛查。受访者对乙型肝炎的认识比对丙型肝炎的认识更多。约 70%的人同意病毒性肝炎的后果包括肝硬化、衰竭和/或癌症。然而，只有 15%的人知道丙型肝炎不能通过疫苗预防，超过一半的人错误地认为乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎可通过受污染或生海鲜传播。尽管 75%的人知道非酒精性脂肪性肝病，但许多人不知道相关的风险因素和并发症。对肝脏健康的特定筛查和诊断测试的认识较差，只有五分之一的人正确识别了病毒性肝炎的诊断测试。对医生咨询、电视或报纸（网络）作为信息渠道的偏好与当前公共卫生教育工作中使用的偏好形成对比。
新加坡公众对肝脏疾病、风险因素和潜在并发症的理解程度不理想。与受访者的信息寻求偏好相匹配的更多公众教育工作可以有助于解决误解，提高对肝脏疾病的认识。
