ROUTES OF HEPATITIS C TRANSMISSION: AWARENESS AMONG HEALTHY CONTROLS AND HEPATITIS C PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the awareness level regarding risks factors of HCV prevalence in Rawalpindi.

Study Design: Cross sectional descriptive study.

Place and Duration of Study: Army Medical College, Rawalpindi during periods of Jan 2014 to Jul 2014.

Material and Methods: After institution’s ethics committee approval and informed consent of the subjects, questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted including healthy individuals (n=14) and hepatitis C infected patients (n=100). The participant’s age, gender and marital status along with their knowledge regarding routes of HCV transmission were evaluated.

Results: All of the healthy subjects (100%) and most of the patients (75%) knew that main spreading cause is blood products as compared to other risk factors which were either over estimated or under-estimated. Overall the knowledge of the patients was poor as compared to the healthy subjects.

Conclusion: Insufficient knowledge regarding HCV risk factor was observed. Hence it is recommended that measures should be taken to educate people regarding possible risks of acquiring HCV on emergent basis.