Nagao Yumiko, Kimura Tetsuya, Tomooka Kiyohide, Wakita Haruhiko
Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, JPN.
Liver Center, Saga University Hospital, Saga, JPN.
Cureus. 2022 Sep 27;14(9):e29670. doi: 10.7759/cureus.29670. eCollection 2022 Sep.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are known to pose a major threat for dental health workers (DHWs). Previously, we reported that the HBV and HCV infection rates among DHWs in the Oita Prefecture in Japan were higher than those among the general population. The aim of this study was to disseminate knowledge about hepatitis and its prevention among the DHWs.
Educational booklets were mailed to 2,197 DHWs working in 487 dental clinics. After anonymously responding to online questions about their experience with HBV and HCV testing, Hepatitis B vaccination, and percutaneous injury, the subjects were required to respond to additional questions about their understanding of hepatitis.
A total of 521 DHWs (205 males and 316 females) responded to the questionnaires. Among them, 61.6% had experienced percutaneous injuries, but only 19.4% were fully aware of how to deal with them before reading the booklet, and also 10.6% had sufficient knowledge about hepatitis. The past Hepatitis B vaccination, past HBV testing rate, and past HCV testing rate were 62.4%, 71.8%, and 43.2%, respectively. The DHWs who are not dentists (n = 293) had significantly lower rates of past testing for their own hepatitis virus, knowledge about treatment of percutaneous injuries, and awareness of hepatitis as compared to dentists (n = 228). After reading the booklet, 99.5% of subjects found the booklet useful and 87.3% said it would influence their future hepatitis testing.
The educational booklet was effective way to increase DHWs' knowledge about Hepatitis B and C and how to manage percutaneous injuries.
已知乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）和丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染对牙科保健工作者（DHWs）构成重大威胁。此前，我们报告称，日本大分县牙科保健工作者中的HBV和HCV感染率高于普通人群。本研究的目的是在牙科保健工作者中传播有关肝炎及其预防的知识。
向在487家牙科诊所工作的2197名牙科保健工作者邮寄了教育手册。在匿名回答有关他们进行HBV和HCV检测、乙肝疫苗接种及经皮损伤经历的在线问题后，受试者被要求回答有关他们对肝炎理解的其他问题。
共有521名牙科保健工作者（205名男性和316名女性）回复了问卷。其中，61.6%的人有过经皮损伤经历，但在阅读手册之前，只有19.4%的人完全知道如何处理这些损伤，并且只有10.6%的人对肝炎有足够的了解。过去的乙肝疫苗接种率、过去的HBV检测率和过去的HCV检测率分别为62.4%、71.8%和43.2%。与牙医（n = 228）相比，非牙医的牙科保健工作者（n = 293）过去对自身肝炎病毒的检测率、经皮损伤处理知识以及肝炎知晓率显著较低。阅读手册后，99.5%的受试者认为手册有用，87.3%的人表示这会影响他们未来的肝炎检测。
教育手册是增加牙科保健工作者对乙型和丙型肝炎知识以及如何处理经皮损伤的有效方法。
