A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE,VACCINATION STATUSAND PREVALENCEOF HEPATITIS-B VIRUS INFECTIONAMONG BROTHEL-BASED FEMALE SEX WORKERS IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS OF LAGOS STATE
Abstract
Background: Hepatitis B virus infection is one of the top five infectious diseases with a global estimate of 2 billion people infected. Hepatitis B virus is fifty to hundred times more infectious than Human Immunodeficiency Virus.Hepatitis B infection is the 10th leading cause of death worldwide. Hepatitis B virus infection ishyperendemic in Nigeria with a much higher HBsAg prevalence in rural than in urban areas. Sex workers remain an important contributor to HBV transmission because their social and behavioral factors play an important role in its transmission. This study was conducted to determine and compare the knowledge, attitude, vaccination status, prevalence of hepatitis-B virus infection and associated factors among brothel based female sex workers in rural and urban areas of Lagos state.
Methodology: Acomparative cross-sectional study was conducted with data collection from 266 rural and 257 urbanbrothel based female sex workersfrom February- April 2017. Participants were drawn by multistage stratified sampling method. Data was obtained voluntarily using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Hepatitis B screening was done using HBV rapid test kits. Data analysis was done using SPSS software version 19. Results were presented in tables as frequencies and percentages. Association between variables was determined using Chi square and t-test with significance set at p<0.05.
Results: Majority of the respondent in the rural and urban LGAs were within the >24 years adult age group.Mean age in both group was similar; 30.5 7.6 years in ruraland 29.8 5.9 years in urban area.A higher proportion of respondents in urban area (32.7%) had heard of Hepatitis B virus infection compared to 25.6% in rural area.Knowledge of Hepatitis B virus infection was high in the rural area and low in the urban area. A statistically significant higher proportion of the female sex workers in the rural area (58.8%) had good knowledge of HBV infection compared to 30.9% in the urban area.As regards attitude towards risk of
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Hepatitis B infection, 98.5% of the respondents in the rural area and 97.6% of the respondents in the urban area had a positive attitude. Hepatitis B vaccination status was similarly very low among the respondents in rural area and urban areas; 2.3%and 1.9%, respectively. A statistically significant (p=0.017)higher proportion of respondents vaccinated in the rural area were married, divorced or widowed compared to those in the urban area. The prevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection was low among the respondents (rural area 2.3%, urban area1.6 %). There were no identified factors influencing Hepatitis B knowledge,attitude and prevalence among female sex workers in rural and urban areas of Lagos State.
Conclusion: HepatitisB prevalence and vaccinationstatus were remarkably low among female sex workers in the rural and urban areas of Lagos state. Primary prevention of HBV infection through Hepatitis B vaccination among sex workers in rural and urban LGAs are extremely important in preventing the spread of HBV infection among this high risk group.
