Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding hepatitis B virus prevention among preventive medicine students
Keywords:
attitudes; health knowledge; health occupations; hepatitis B; preventive medicine; practices; occupational exposure; studentsAbstract
Introduction: Hepatitis B remains a major public health concern in Viet Nam.
Objective: To assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding hepatitis B virus prevention among preventive medicine students.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 374 preventive medicine students enrolled at Tra Vinh University, Viet Nam. Data were collected through a structured and interviewer administered questionnaire addressing knowledge (9 items), attitudes (7 items), and practices (10 items). Knowledge, attitudes and practices were classified as “good” when the score was ≥ 65%.
Results: Good levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices were observed in 89.6%, 88.8%, and 52.9% of participants, respectively. Inadequate knowledge was associated with below average academic performance (cOR = 2.35; 95% CI: 1.21 - 4.60) and first year of study (aOR = 9.53; 95% CI: 2.07 - 43.77). Negative attitudes were associated with single marital status (cOR = 4.32; 95% CI: 1.16 - 18.39) and below average academic performance (aOR = 2.54; 95% CI: 1.27 - 5.08). Poor practices were associated with inadequate knowledge (aOR = 2.76; 95% CI: 1.24 - 6.21), negative attitudes (aOR = 3.09; 95% CI: 1.40 - 6.80), second year of study (aOR = 2.93; 95% CI: 1.32 - 6.45), and single marital status (aOR = 2.55; 95% CI: 1.31 - 4.98).
Conclusions: Strengthening educational and training strategies may improve knowledge and subsequently promote safer practices for hepatitis B prevention among preventive medicine students.
Downloads
References
1. World Health Organization. Global hepatitis report 2024: action for access in low- and middle-income countries [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2024. [access: 05/04/2026]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240091672
2. World Health Organization. WHO sounds alarm on viral hepatitis infections claiming 3500 lives each day [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2024. [access: 05/04/2026]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news/item/09-04-2024-who-sounds-alarm-on-viral-hepatitis-infections-claiming-3500-lives-each-day
3. Ministry of Health (Viet Nam). Decision No. 4532/QD-BYT dated September 24, 2021 on the plan for prevention and control of viral hepatitis 2021–2025 [Internet]. Hanoi: Ministry of Health; 2021. [access: 05/04/2026]. Available from: https://chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=204811
4. Nhung HT, Phu TG, Trinh NT. Knowledge and factors associated with chronic hepatitis B infection among adults in Tra Vinh province, Viet Nam, 2022 [Internet]. Vietnam Med J. 2022;520(1B):97-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51298/vmj.v520i1B.3846
5. Phu TG, Nhung HT, Nhung HT, Trinh NT, Nguyen N. Percentage of hepatitis B virus infection and related factors in Tra Vinh province, Vietnam [Internet]. Int J Res Med Sci. 2023;11(2):476-9. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20230156
6. Trinh LD, Binh NT, Linh HX, Phong HT. Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and associated factors among Khmer ethnic minority people in Cau Ke District, Tra Vinh Province, in 2021 [Internet]. Vietnam Med J. 2022;511(1):[aprox. 5 scr.]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51298/vmj.v511i1.2031
7. Trinh L, Huyen T, Hon H, Dung N, Trinh N. Knowledge of hepatitis B prevention among Khmer ethnic people in Tra Cu District, Tra Vinh Province [Internet]. J Community Med. 2024;65(8):168-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52163/yhc.v65iCD8.1472
8. Babiker LM, Idriss AI, Idriss EI, Kheirelsid FE. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of the Medical Students of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology Towards Hepatitis B Virus Infection [Internet]. Cureus. 2025;17(7):e88402. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.88402
9. Giang NLH. Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the prevention of hepatitis B transmission among nursing students at Tra Vinh University and associated factors [Internet]. J Nurs. 2022 [access: 05/04/2026];38:90-100. Available from: http://thuvienlamdong.org.vn:84/handle/DL_134679/51865
10. Nguyen HY, Tran TXH. Knowledge, attitude and practice of nursing students on hepatitis B prevention at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine [Internet]. Pham Ngoc Thach J Med Pharm. 2022;1(3):50-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59715/pntjmp.1.3.7
11. Abe K, Yamamoto T, Kikuchi H, Kaneko I, Konno K, Horita S, et al. Impact of clinical practice restriction on medical students’ perceptions of simulation training: a retrospective cohort study [Internet]. Med Sci Educ. 2025;36:287-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-025-02568-5
12. Almeida Lima AB, Gusmao CMP, Espirito Santo Lima L, Rocha DM, Menegueti MG, Oliveira ES, et al. Effect of an educational intervention on nursing students’ knowledge about COVID-19 and compliance with standard and transmission-based precautions: a quasi-experimental study [Internet]. BMC Nurs. 2025;24(1):1071. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03672-y
13. Nguyen BT, Vo LY, Nguyen TV, Vo MC, Pham TD, Nguyen HTN, et al. Hepatitis B vaccination status and associated factors among health science students [Intenet]. Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2023;16(5):213-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.377742
14. Lebem T, Ndong A, Bah MS, Ndoye P, Niang K. Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Hepatitis B among Students at Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis in 2024 [Intenet]. Health. 2024;16:1101-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2024.1611076
15. Huynh G, Pham LA, Tran TT, Cao NN, Nguyen TN, Bui QV. How knowledge of hepatitis B disease and vaccine influences vaccination practices among parents in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam [Internet]. Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2021;14(3):122-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.307534
16. Phu TG, Hung TG, Tram VT, Hien NT. Effectiveness of communication interventions for toxocariasis prevention among the Khmer population in Tra Cu District, Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam [Internet]. Vietnam J Prev Med. 2024;34(8):105-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51403/0868-2836/2024/2149
17. Munuo GD, Masika GM. Using Health Belief Model to predict hepatitis B vaccination uptake among undergraduate nursing students [Internet]. East Afr Health Res J. 2024;8(2):271-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24248/eahrj.v8i2.790
18. Tamanna SS, Paul KD, Al Banna MH, Zannat Z, Paul AK, Sultana S, et al. Preventive practices toward hepatitis B infection among nursing students in Bangladesh: role of knowledge, attitudes and sociodemographic factors [Internet]. BMC Nurs. 2024;23(1):190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01870-8
19. Babiker LM, Idriss AI, Idriss EI, Kheirelsid FE. Knowledge, attitude and practice of medical students toward hepatitis B virus infection [Internet]. Cureus. 2025;17(7):e88402. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.88402
20. Griffith MM, Field E, Huang ASE, Shimada T, Battsend M, Housen T, et al. How learning happens in field epidemiology training programs: a qualitative study [Internet]. BMC Med Educ. 2025;25(1):411. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06982-6
21. Kaba HEJ, Misailovski M, Brähler J, Garcia J, Artelt T, Raupach T, et al. Innovative teaching in infection prevention and control and infectious diseases education: testing and investigation of student perceptions [Internet]. Infection. 2025;53(1):139-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-024-02332-8
22. Lan H, Dung N, Trang N, Thao N. Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding hepatitis B prevention among health sciences students at Phenikaa University [Internet]. J Community Med. 2025; 66(10):239-45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52163/yhc.v66iCD10.2642
23. Phu TG, Hung TG. Socioeconomic characteristics influencing knowledge, attitudes and practices in toxocariasis prevention among adults [Internet]. Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2025;18(12):541-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/apjtm.apjtm_254_25
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Tao Gia Phu, Nguyen Thi Hong Dao, Nguyen Huynh Truong Son
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who have publications with this Journal accept the following terms:
- The authors will retain their copyright and guarantee the Journal the right of first publication of their work, which will simultaneously be subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License. The content presented here can be shared, copied and redistributed in any medium or format; Can be adapted, remixed, transformed or created from the material, using the following terms: Attribution (giving appropriate credit to the work, providing a link to the license, and indicating if changes have been made); non-commercial (you cannot use the material for commercial purposes) and share-alike (if you remix, transform or create new material from this work, you can distribute your contribution as long as you use the same license as the original work).
- The authors may adopt other non-exclusive license agreements for the distribution of the published version of the work (for example: depositing it in an institutional electronic archive or publishing it in a monographic volume) as long as the initial publication in this Journal is indicated.
- Authors are allowed and recommended to disseminate their work through the Internet (e.g., in institutional electronic archives or on their website) before and during the submission process, which can produce interesting exchanges and increase citations. of the published work.
