Publication:

Multimedia education program on knowledge and attitude regarding management, prevention of complication and side-effects of drugs on hepatitis-B among hepatitis patients: a pre-experimental study

Background Hepatitis is considered a public health challenge on the Asian continent. However, due to the paucity of the data, the exact burden of the condition has not been established. Better disease-related knowledge will help to improve attitudes toward managing the complications and side effects and also prevent the further spread of infection.

Methods A hospital-based pre-experimental study was undertaken with 60 hepatitis B patients. Knowledge and attitude were assessed using demographic data, a 30-item knowledge questionnaire, and 16-item Likert scale responses, respectively. SPSS V20.0 was used for data analysis and interpretation. To do the analysis, a paired t-test and descriptive statistics, along with chi-square analysis were done to check the association level.

Results The result showed that in the pre-test, 41 (68.3%) of the participants had inadequate knowledge, 19 (31.7%) had moderate knowledge, and none of the study participants had adequate knowledge. Furthermore, 60 (100%) participants had a neutral attitude, and none of the participants had an unfavorable and favorable attitude toward hepatitis B patients. The paired “t” test value was found to be 18.67 for knowledge level and 25.25 for attitude level, which was highly significant at p<0.05 level. Also, we have observed a strong positive linear correlation between knowledge and attitude, and the calculated “r” value is 0.741*.

Conclusions The findings of the study indicate that hepatitis B patients have a lack of knowledge and attitude which may lead to the further spread of infection in the community and hospital itself. Extensive health education, community reach, and health workers participation can have a rational control over the management of the disease.