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Evaluation of knowledge about hepatitis B, its vaccination and its correlation with the vaccination status of the general population in Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Objective: As hepatitis B (HB) poses a serious global health threat, the main aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge of HB and its vaccination among healthy population in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based descriptive study was conducted. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and Spearman rho correlation were used to analyze data using the SPSS version 18 software. Results: The number of participants who completed the questionnaire was 425/490, with a mean age of 27.2 ± 11.0 years. Mean knowledge scores on HB and HB vaccination were 6.6 ± 2.6 and 4.7 ± 2.2, respectively. Gender, education, and locality were significantly associated with their knowledge of HB and HB vaccination. There was a positive linear correlation between HB knowledge and vaccination status (r = 0.232 p < 0.001), and vaccination knowledge and vaccination status of the respondents (r = 0.330 p < 0.001). Conclusions: The study indicated poor knowledge among the general population regarding HB and vaccination. Positive correlation indicated that higher knowledge leads to high vaccination status.