Knowledge and treatment practices of hepatitis b infection in children among health practitioners in krachi districts in ghana-a cross-sectional study

Introduction Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains one of the neglected infectious diseases. Children infected with HBV are at higher risk of becoming chronic carriers. Barriers to measures against HBV in children is attributed to inadequate knowledge by some health professionals. This study assessed knowledge and treatment practices of HBV in children among health professionals. Methods A cross sectional survey was conducted among health practitioners (185) in three districts in Krachi using structured questionnaire. Stata version 15 was used to analyze participants’ responses on awareness, knowledge and treatment practices. Pearson’s Product Moment correlation was used to determine the relationship between knowledge, treatment and preventive practices. Multivariate regression analysis assessed the relationships between variables at p<0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results 64% of the participants were nurses. 80% were aware of HBV in children and 85% had only fair knowledge about HBV in children. Only 29% indicated good knowledge and management practices of HBV in children. There was a positive relationship between knowledge, and treatment ( r (183) = .67, p < .001) and preventive ( r (183) = .54, p < .001 ) practices. A unit increase in awareness of HBV in children leads to 1.42 units increase in knowledge (p < .01, 95% CI; .543, 2 . 296) , while a unit increase in knowledge result in 1.3 units increase in treatment ( (p < .01, 95% CI;.912, 1.680 ) practice of HBV in children. Conclusion Participants demonstrated only fair knowledge about HBV in children. Seminars and workshops on HBV in children for health professionals must intensify. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The authors received no specific funding for this work ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study received ethical clearance from the Ghana Health Service Ethics Review Committee (GHS-ERC 022/01/19) and permission was granted by the participating health facilities before the commencement of the study I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Data cannot be shared publicly because the data is still being analyzed for additional manuscript * HB : Hepatitis B virus HI : Human Immunodeficiency Virus MCH/FP : Maternal and Child Health/ Family Planning MTCT : Mother-to-Child Transmission WHO : World Health Organization.