Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to two billion people in the world
have been infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV); about 350 million people live with chronic
HBV infection, and about 600,000 people die from HBV- related liver disease or HCV each
year. The Infection is highly endemic in Uganda with a national prevalence estimate of 10%.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no data regarding the knowledge, attitude, and
influence of socio-economic status on hepatitis B infection in secondary school settings in
Uganda. This study aimed at assessing HBV infection knowledge, HBV vaccination attitude,
and the influence of socioeconomic status on HBV vaccination among students of Iganga high
school Iganga District Eastern Uganda. This study used a cross-sectional design that recruited
a total of 247 secondary school students from Iganga High School randomly. The main
method that was employed in selecting a sample from the population was a simple random
sampling technique. Questionnaires were the main tools used for data collection and
collected data was analyzed using STATA software version 14.0. Logistic regression analysis
was carried out to determine the socioeconomic factors influencing the immunization status
of Iganga High school students. The mean age of the study participants was 15.9 years with
a standard deviation of 2.3 years from the mean. The minimum age was 12 years whereas
the maximum age was 25 years. The mean knowledge score was 5.2 with a standard deviation
of 2.4 from the mean, the majority of the study participants 70.04% (173/247) had a low level
of knowledge on HBV infection and 29.96% (74/247) had a high level of knowledge. The
majority of the study participants 68.98% (169/245) had an unfavorable attitude towards HBV
vaccination meanwhile 31.02% (76/245) had a favorable attitude. The age group of 12–14
years versus the age group of 15–17 years (cOR3.07, 95%CI 1.67 – 5.62, P<0.001). Having an
extra job (cOR2.81, 95%CI 1.06 – 7.45, P=0.037) and having heard about HBV (cOR2.04, 95%CI
1.07 – 3.90, P=0.029) were the socio-economic factors influencing the hepatitis B vaccination
status of study participants. There was a low level of knowledge of Hepatitis B infection and
an unfavorable attitude towards Hepatitis B vaccination among students of Iganga High
School. The study indicates that the age of the students; having an extra job and hearing
about HBV were the socio-economic factors influencing HBV vaccination among students in
Iganga high school