Knowledge of Hepatitis B Virus and Vaccination Uptake among Pregnant Women in Rural North Gonja of the Savanah Region, Ghana

Purpose: Hepatitis B viral(HBV) infection is a global public health challenge. Mother to child transmission is the leading cause of HB Vinfection in high endemic countries. The objective of this study was to examine pregnant women’s knowledge of HBV and their vaccination uptake in the North Gonja District of the Savanah Region of Ghana.

Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in five Health centres and five Community-based Health Planning and Services(CHPS) compounds.Data was collected from April to June 2020 using a structured questionnaire. Data on socio-demographic characteristics,HBV Knowledge, testing and vaccination uptake among 310 pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics (ANC) were collected using a simple random sampling method. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel version 2019 and IBM SPSS v25. Results were presented as frequencies, percentages, tables and figure. A chi-square test of associations was performed and a P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: In all, 43.25% of the respondents had excellent knowledge, 21.94% had good knowledge whilst 34.84% had poor knowledge. There was a statistical association between educational level (p=0.002), ANC visit (p<0.001), ethnicity (p<0.001), occupation(p<0.011) and knowledge of HBV. HBV testing and vaccination uptake were only 35.5% and close to 33% respectively. Educational level (p<0.001), previous HBV screening (p<0.001), occupation (p<0.001), knowledge of HBV(p<0.001), ANC visit(p=0.002) were significantly associated with Hepatitis B virus vaccination uptake.

Conclusion: Pregnant women were knowledgeable of HBV. However, HBV testing and vaccination uptake were low. Pregnant women attending ANC should be screened for hepatitis B. Vaccination of pregnant women against HBV should be introduced into the EPI program.