Knowledge and Awareness of Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Pregnant Women in Abakaliki Nigeria

Background: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is highly endemic in Nigeria and about 9-12% of Nigerians are chronic carriers. Informed knowledge of pregnant women about HBV influences the acceptability, practice and success of antenatal screening of Hepatitis B virus. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 400 pregnant women accessing antenatal care at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki. A pretested questionnaire was administered to women who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and gave consent. Analysis of results was done using the IBM SPSS Statistics, version 20, 2011. Statistical level of significance was set at P – value < 0.05. Results: The result showed that 258 (62.5%) of the respondents have heard of HBV infection. Two hundred and eighty six (71.5%) were aware of its occurrence in pregnancy while only 99 (24.8%) knew that hepatitis is a viral infection affecting the liver, 27 (6.8%) thought it is an eye disease while 210 (52.5%) do not know. Mother-to-child transmission and transfusion of unscreened blood were recognized by 283 (72.94%) and 41 (10.3%)of respondents, respectively. Level of Education and parity were associated with the awareness of hepatitis (p-value. 001). Conclusion: This study shows that there is lack of knowledge and awareness of Hepatitis B virus infection in our environment.