Knowledge, risk level and prevalence of Hepatitis B and C among Commercial Minibus Drivers in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Background: Hepatitis B and C are potentially life-threatening liver infections and major public health challenge affecting 350 million people with approximately annual deaths of 1.4 million. Objective: Determine the knowledge and investigate the prevalence of HBV and HCV among commercial mini-bus drivers in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Methodology: Descriptive, cross-sectional design using quantitative strategy. Multistage sampling technique was used to recruit 110 respondents. An adapted questionnaire from two previous studies was used for participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge level of Hepatitis B and C, risk factors and vaccination hesitancy while laboratory investigations were used for HBV and HCV prevalence. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Findings revealed that one-third (32.7%) of the respondents were between 39-48 years. Majority (73.6%) were married with 39.1% having at least two sexual partners. Majority (80%) have heard of HBV while 75% have never heard of HCV, 43.6% and 59.1% have poor knowledge level of hepatitis B and C. The prevalence of HBV and anti-HCV among the respondents were 7.3% and 1% respectively. Major risk factors identified were tattooing, multiple sexual partners, and unprotected sex. There was a significant relationship between respondents’ knowledge of hepatitis B and age (X2 =21.39, p=0.006) and number of sexual partners (X2=21.25, p= 0.002) while only educational background (X2=13.58, p= 0.035) was significantly associated with the knowledge level of hepatitis C. Conclusion: Hence, purposeful efforts on awareness and prevention programs for HBV and HCV should be made by nurses, other healthcare professionals and all other stakeholders.