Attitudes towards maternal screening for hepatitis B virus infection in Iran

To evaluate the attitudes of pregnant women towards prenatal screening for hepatitis B.

A total of 498 pregnant women attending obstetricians' private practices or unversity clinics for routine prenatal check-ups were enrolled. They were given an informative sheet regarding the epidemiology, diagnostic assays, preventive and treatment modalities and prognosis of hepatitis B. Then, we evaluated the attitudes of enrolled population towards antenatal screening for hepatitis B through a self-administered questionnaire.

A total of 486 individuals returned the questionnaire (response rate: 97.6%). 393 participants (82.0%) agreed to HBV testing. Higher level of education was associated with more positive attitudes toward HBV testing. 461 subjects (95.4%) accepted medication or vaccine, if necessary, to spare their child from disease. In the case of positive HBV test, 18.2% of mothers decided to review their prior decision for another pregnancy in future.

Acceptability for prenatal HBV screening and following preventive modalities is good in Iranian population, but more consultation and training sessions for pregnant women should be provided with respect to their socio-demographic characteristics such as age, level of education and willingness to have another child.