Public Awareness Campaign and Knowledge of Iranian (Bio)Medical Students Regarding Hepatitis B and C Infections

Background New treatment and vaccination strategies provide the opportunity for eliminating viral hepatitis. Lack of adequate knowledge seems to be a barrier against hepatitis elimination due to the emergence of newly infected cases. Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of Iranian (bio)medical students regarding hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and to determine the effect of hepatitis public awareness campaign (PAC), held by the students, on their knowledge level. Methods This prospective study was conducted during PAC by Iran Hepatitis Network for World Hepatitis Day in 2016. The PAC had 2 major parts: 1) training of the registered (bio)medical students in a workshop; and 2) sending the trained students to Tehran metro stations to promote public hepatitis awareness on July 26 - 28, 2016. Hepatitis knowledge of the students was evaluated by a validated questionnaire before the workshop, after the workshop, and after the end of PAC. Results A total of 91 undergraduate students participated in the workshop, PAC, and the survey. The mean total knowledge scores of the students before and after the workshop were 56.2 ± 18.0 and 75.8 ± 17.9, respectively. Moreover, the scores further increased to 96.6 ± 6.1 after the end of the campaign (P < 0.05). Conclusions The results demonstrated that knowledge regarding HBV and HCV infections is not sufficient in the study population. Therefore, we suggest using social activities and awareness campaigns to increase awareness among (bio)medical students.