Hepatitis B immunity in high risk health care workers. Seven years post vaccination

The purpose of this descriptive, quantitative study was to examine hepatitis B immunity in high risk health care workers 7 years post immunization. The study related immunity to age and site of injection, and also described titer results. The study sample was composed of 42 health care workers from areas with frequent blood exposure. The study found that 21% of the health care workers had nonreactive titers 7 or more years post immunization. No significant differences existed in the percentages of the reactive participants according to injection site, although it is recommended the injection be given intramuscularly in the deltoid. No statistically significant relationship was revealed by comparing titer results to age. The low power (.24) displays the need for larger sample sizes which could be obtained by using multicenter data sites. Future research with national collaboration and standard performance measurement systems could provide crucial information related to hepatitis B immunity in health care workers.