KNOWLEDGE OF RISK FACTORS AND PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AGAINST HEPATITIS B AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ACHIEVERS UNIVERSITY

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B infection is a contagious disease of the liver, caused by the partial double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) hepatitis B virus (HBV). The prevalence of Hepatitis B infection is observed to be increasing globally. Therefore the objectives of the study focused on determining the knowledge of the risk factors ,assessing the knowledge of the precautionary measures and identifying the practice of the precautionary measures against Hepatitis B infection among undergraduate students in Achievers University. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive design was used for the study. A sample size of 380 respondents were selected through convenient sampling method. The instrument for data collection was a self - developed questionnaire from literature review. The face and content validity were determined by the project supervisor .The reliability of the study was subjected to Pearson Product Moment Correlation Formula and an index of 0.79 was obtained as reliable. The results of the study were presented in tables, frequency counts and percentages. Chi-square was also used to determine the relationship between age and knowledge of the risk factors of Hepatitis B at 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: The analysis shows that 268(70.53%) have high knowledge about the risk factors of Hepatitis B virus while majority of the students 273(71.84%) are aware of the precautionary measures against Hepatitis B. The findings shows that 223(58.68%) have good practices toward the precautionary measures against HBV. Chi square also revealed a p value of 0.005 (p>0.05) ,X2 value of 12.71 and df of 3 showing that there was a significant relationship between age and knowledge of Hepatitis B. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that majority of students in Achievers University have good knowledge on the risk factors and precautionary measures against Hepatitis B virus.