Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward hepatitis B virus among obstetricians and gynecologists: a cross-sectional study
Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection represents a global health burden that can lead to acute illness, chronic complications, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) occurs in about 70–90% of deliveries in infected mothers whose HBV DNA vir...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Egyptian Liver Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43066-025-00427-x |
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| Summary: | Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection represents a global health burden that can lead to acute illness, chronic complications, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) occurs in about 70–90% of deliveries in infected mothers whose HBV DNA viral load is at least 200,000 IU/mL and in 10%–40% of deliveries in mothers with low-risk infection. The present study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge among obstetricians regarding HBV infection. It also aimed to assess obstetricians’ attitudes toward their HBV-infected patients and to investigate their current practices. Results One-hundred and seventy-eight Egyptian obstetricians were enrolled in this study. Most of them had moderate and high knowledge scores about HBV infection, 75.8% and 10.7% respectively. Among all knowledge questions of all enrolled physicians (2138/3204), 66.7% were answered correctly. Only 14% of the study group knew that 90% of infants born to HBV-infected women would develop chronic infection if precautions to prevent MTCT were not taken. Among the enrolled obstetricians, 66.9% reported needlestick injury in the past 12 months. Only 13/178 (7.3%) answered correctly about dealing with needlestick injuries from HBV-infected women. More than 90% of enrolled obstetricians were vaccinated against HBV infection. Less than 20% of the study group reported that they never tested women for their HBV status during counseling before getting pregnant. More than 80% of obstetricians always inform HBV pregnant women that their newborn infants need to receive prophylaxis to prevent perinatal HBV transmission. More than 70% of the study group expressed fear of being infected because they are afraid of transmitting the disease to their family. More than 75% of them had concerns about working with HBV-infected health workers. Conclusions Findings of the current study revealed that the status of Egyptian obstetricians’ awareness of HBV infection is adequate to some extent in some points and still not satisfactory enough in other points. These gaps should be addressed, which would reflect on better practice of health care services introduced to HBV-infected mothers and their infants. |
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| ISSN: | 2090-6226 |