Knowledge and awareness regarding viral hepatitis among paramedical and humanities students

Background & Aim: The term hepatitis applies to a wide group of clinical and pathological condition that is often caused by damage to the liver by various factors including viral infections. The present study aimed to assess the awareness of non-medical students about the viral hepatitis disease. Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 298 students of the two universities in Tehran were selected. The data collecting tool was a two-part questionnaire. The first part examined the student demographic information, and the second part consisted of 10 questions about of viral hepatitis. Questionnaires were distributed among the students and then the data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Among the 298 respondents, there were 224 women with a mean age of 26 years. 155 people (52%) were students of medicine and biosciences and 143 (48%) were students of the humanities. There was a significant difference between the awareness of the correct answer and the fields of study. Therefore, the awareness level of paramedical and biological sciences students was higher than other disciplines. Conclusion: The mean level of awareness of respondents was 32.95%. The average level of awareness in students of paramedical and biological sciences (31.99%) was higher than the average level of awareness in students of humanities (16.06%). Albeit the entire study population was composed of the young and educated people, their awareness of viral hepatitis was low. It strongly reflects poor knowledge of society and especially our young people as a group at risk.