Iqbal Haider, Aliena Badshah, Adnan Yousaf.
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) study among Medical and Dental Students regarding Hepatitis B Vaccination.
J Med Sci Jan ;26(4):287-91.

Objective: To ascertain the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical and dental students regarding vaccination against Hepatitis B virus. Material and Methods: This descriptive research work was conducted among medical and dental students from Khyber Medical College and Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar, Pakistan respectively from January 2017 to May, 2017. Male and female students from all academic years were recruited in the study. After informed consent, students were requested to fill in a pre-formed questionnaire. Data was collected in Microsoft excel and then tabulated using Microsoft excel. Results were tabulated in the form of percentages. Results: One hundred thirty-one (50.4%) male and 129 (49.6%) female medical (51.2%) and dental (48.8%) students participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 19 to 24 years. Of these students, 112 (43.1%) had initiated vaccination against Hepatitis B virus whereas 148 (56.9%) had not started vaccination. Of these, only 86 (33.1%) students completed full Hepatitis B vaccination course. Among those who completed the course, majority of the students had enrolled in the 0, 1, 2 month regimen of vaccination. Of all the students, only 28 (10.8%) received booster dose after completion of vaccination. Only 8 (3.1%) of the students checked their anti HbsAb titers, but none of them remembered the exact values of antibody levels. Seventy-six (29.2%) students had vaccinated their family members against Hepatitis B while 31 (11.9%) students had also vaccinated themselves against Hepatitis A virus infection of the 11 (4.2%) students who were married, only 4 (1.5%) had checked their partner's Hepatitis B status. Conclusion: Medical and dental students themselves are not much aware of the importance of vaccination and majority have not vaccinated themselves against the virus. Not all who started vaccination managed to complete the course and so their immunization status could also not be accurately ascertained.

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