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. 2022 Nov 5;22(1):2026.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-14353-9.

Hepatitis B, C and human immunodeficiency virus knowledge among the general greek population: results from the Hprolipsis nationwide survey

Sylvia Kaskafetou #  1 , Argiro Karakosta #  1 , Vana Sypsa  1 , Natasa Kalpourtzi  1 , Magda Gavana  2 , Apostolos Vantarakis  3 , George Rachiotis  4 , Grigoris Chlouverakis  5 , Grigoris Trypsianis  6 , Paraskevi V Voulgari  7 , Yannis Alamanos  8 , George Papatheodoridis  9 , Giota Touloumi  10 ; Hprolipsis study group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Hepatitis B, C and human immunodeficiency virus knowledge among the general greek population: results from the Hprolipsis nationwide survey

Sylvia Kaskafetou et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Although several studies on hepatitis B (HBV), C (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have been conducted in Greece, little is known on the knowledge level of the Greek population towards these three infections. Our aim was to assess the knowledge level of the adult Greek general population about the HBV, HCV and HIV.

Methods: Data were derived from the first general population health survey, Hprolipsis. The sample was selected by multistage stratified random sampling. A standardized questionnaire was administered by trained interviewers during home visits. A knowledge score was constructed based on responses to 17 per infection selected items and categorized in three levels; high (12-17 correct replies) medium (6-11) and low (0-5). Among 8,341 eligible individuals, 6,006 were recruited (response rate: 72%) and 5,878 adults (≥ 18 years) were included in the analysis. The statistical analysis accounted for the study design.

Results: Only 30.4%, 21.6%, and 29.6% of the participants had a high overall knowledge level of HBV, HCV and HIV, respectively. These low percentages were mainly attributed to the high levels of misconception about transmission modes (65.9%, 67.2%, and 67.9%, respectively). Results showed that increasing age and living out of the big metropolitan cities were associated with decreased odds of having higher knowledge. Female gender, higher education level, higher monthly family income, higher medical risk score, history of testing and being born in Greece or Cyprus, were associated with increased odds of having higher knowledge.

Conclusions: There are significant knowledge gaps in the Greek general population regarding modes of transmission, preventive measures and treatment availability for HBV, HCV and HIV. There is an urgent need for large scale but also localized awareness activities targeted to less privileged populations, to fill the gaps in knowledge and increase population engagement in preventive measures.

Keywords: HBV; HCV; HIV; Health survey; Knowledge; Risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

GT has received EU and national resources grants to support this study and grants unrelated to this study from Gilead Sciences Europe, UCL, ECDC, University of Bristol, EU, and National funds. GP has been advisor/lecturer for AbbVie, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Ipsen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Roche, Takeda and has received research grants unrelated to this study from AbbVie, Gilead. VS has received grants unrelated to this study from Gilead Sciences and AbbVie and honoraria from Gilead Sciences, AbbVie and Janssen. MG has received honoraria by Merck & Co. The rest of the authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overall knowledge score for HBV, HCV and HIV and total overall knowledge score. Overall knowledge score evaluates all 17 statements of each infection and total overall knowledge score evaluates the sum of the overall knowledge scores of HBV, HCV and HIV (51 statements)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overall, Transmission Modes and Misconceptions’ Knowledge Score for HBV, HCV, and HIV. Transmission modes knowledge score evaluates the 5 statements referring to the true routes of transmission and misconceptions’ score evaluates the 5 statements referring to false transmission routes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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