Abstract :
Background: Hepatitis B is a silent epidemic. The Hepatitis B virus has only human reservoir. Dental professionals are at an increased risk of contracting this highly infectious disease due to the nature of their work.
Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of first year, second year, third year, fourth year BDS students, dental interns, practicing dentists and the dental auxiliaries about Hepatitis B infection.
Materials and methods: A pre-tested, self-administered cross-sectional survey containing 16 questions about various aspects of Hepatitis B was conducted among 354 subjects.
Statistical analysis: Descriptive statistics were carried out and statistical tools such as Chi-square test and contingency coefficient (CC) were employed. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All P-values were two tailed.
Results: The response rate was 100% (n=354). Majority of the dental professionals were aware of the hepatitis B infection and transmission. Their knowledge about the vaccination schedule and post exposure prophylaxis was lower. The dental auxiliaries showed a very know level of knowledge and awareness in all the questions.
Conclusion: Overall good awareness level in the professionals studied but a less than satisfactory level in the auxiliary workers. Amongst the professionals, the first and second year students showed a relatively lower level of awareness.
Keyword :
Awareness, Knowledge, Practices, Hepatitis B virus, HBV, Vaccination, Dental professionals, Dental auxiliaries