Vaccination against hepatitis B virus in hemodialysis patients: trends in dialysis centers of Northern Pakistan

Background:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, especially those on hemodialysis, are at
increased risk of developing Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Guidelines
suggest that all patients with chronic kidney disease CKD should be vaccinated
against Hepatitis HBVB, but these guidelines are usually not followed. We
conducted this study to know the status of vaccination against HBV in chronic
kidney disease patients on regular hemodialysis.

Methods:
This
observational descriptive study was conducted at the Department of Medicine,
Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Teaching Hospital, Poonch Medical College Rawalakot ,
and POF Teaching Hhospital, Wah Medical College Wah Cantt, from March 2019 to
July 2019. Patients reporting to the dialysis center of both hospitals on
regular dialysis were included in the study. Patient’s information (like HBV
vaccination status, age, gender, education, socioeconomic status and duration CKD),
were collected on a specially designed form. The statistical analysis of data
was done in SPSS for Windows, version 20.

Results:
A total 149 patients were included in the study, 63.1% were male and 36.9% were
female. Out of these 24.2% were uneducated, 33.6% had 1-10 years school
education, 38.2% had 10-14 years education, and 4% had more than 14 years
education. About 35% patients were from low socioeconomic class, 54% from
middle and 11% from higher class. Only 45.6% (n=68) of patients were vaccinated
and 54.4% (n=81) were not vaccinated against HBV. Vaccination status was
associated with education (p=0.004) and socioeconomic status (p=0.008).

Conclusion:
The Hepatitis B vaccination status of patients on regular hemodialysis is not
satisfactory at the two centers observed. It is associated with education and
socioeconomic status of the patient.