Knowledge about Hepatitis B Virus and Relevant Safety Precautions among Dental Students in Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Abstract

Background. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is still a major health problem worldwide, placing healthcare workers, medical and dental students, and professionals at higher occupational risk. The present study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge about this virus and relevant safety precautions among dental students in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Materials and methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted among the third, fourth, and fifth stage dental students of Hawler Medical, Sulaimani, and Duhok universities. Data on the students’ demographic characteristics and their knowledge about HBV (16 close-ended questions) and safety precaution measures (10 close-ended questions) were collected by means of a questionnaire. Analysis of variance was used to compare the mean of knowledge and safety precaution scores. Results. In total, 372 students (mean age $21.77\pm 1.31$ years) completed the questionnaires. The mean scores for knowledge and safety precautions were $13.17\pm 2.09$ and $8.05\pm 1.61$ , respectively. Respondents from Hawler Medical University showed statistically significantly higher knowledge levels than their counterparts in Sulaimani and Duhok universities ( $p=0.012$ ). Conclusions. The majority of surveyed dental students are aware of HBV, its mode of transmission, infection, complications, vaccination, and safety precautions required to prevent the spreading of the virus. While the levels of knowledge about HBV and safety precautions among the dental students in the Kurdistan region of Iraq were generally acceptable, differences in knowledge level were identified between the universities, and these may be related to their educational and training programs.