Prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B infection in Stieng tribe adults in Binhphuoc Province, Vietnam

This cross sectional study was conducted from February to March 2012, involved 357 participants in 3 hamlets in Binhphuoc province. The study had two main purposes: first to determine the sero-prevalence of hepatitis B among Stieng tribe adults; second to identify factor associate with hepatitis B infection among Stieng tribe adults in Binhphuoc province, Vietnam. Data were collected by using a structured questionnaire and blood test. Frequencies, percentage, means, and standard deviation were used to describe the data. Chi-square was used to assess associations between dependent and independent variable. The prevalence of hepatitis B infection (HBsAg positive) was 16.2%. The mean age was 32.42 and nearly half of the participant cannot read and write (45.7%), 66.4% were married. Their occupation were mostly farmer (93.3%), and 37.0% did not have enough money to meet the need. For knowledge on hepatitis B, more than half of the participant never heard about hepatitis B (52.4%), only 23% of them answer correct 1 to 6 questions of knowledge and 24.6% answer correct more than 6 questions. 35.3%, 30% of the participants shared toothbrush and razor with other. Significant association was found between gender and hepatitis B infection. There was not significant association between level of knowledge and hepatitis B infection. For the health behavior was found significant association between visiting community barber (0.01), personal nail-clipper (p= 0.011), multiple sexual partner (p= 0.002) with hepatitis B. Study finding indicate a need for more education on hepatitis B promotion, especially transmission.