HEPATITIS B VACCINATION: KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE AMONG WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE IN GEORGIA

Georgia is a country with high prevalence of hepatitis B. Based on a 2015 population serosurvey, the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is 2.9% and prevalence of anti-HBc is 25.5% in general population. Hepatitis B vaccine has been included in the national immunization schedule of Georgia only since 2002. Thus, most reproductive aged women were not vaccinated during young childhood. Cross-sectional study was conducted in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. Reproductive aged women were randomly selected and then recruited from three maternity care centers during prenatal care. The self-administered questionnaire included questions on socio-demographic information, hepatitis B vaccination status and awareness of HBV infection status. A total of 2185 reproductive aged women were enrolled in the study. The mean age was 28.5 (age range 17-46) years. Most (76.4%) had a bachelor and/or master's degree. 20.0% of respondents never heard about HBV. Very few (3.3%) knew they were infected with HBV. We could not determine if women were chronically infected or were exposed and developed antibodies. HBV knowledge was limited: 57.5% were not aware of available HBV treatment; 51.6% didn't know HBV infection could be prevented (35.8% named HBV vaccination, 29.3% named condom use). Only 10% of study participants reported being vaccinated for HBV. Awareness of HBV infection was higher among women over age 25 (72.1%) compared to women aged 25 years or less (27.9%) (P<0.0001). Among women who reported having an HBV infection, 40.6% did not name vaccine as a prevention method and 38.2% did not have information about availability of HBV treatment (P<0.05). Based on our study results, knowledge about HBV infection and vaccination is very low among reproductive aged women in Georgia. Women's health centers can be a good place to reach reproductive aged women for counseling on HBV infection and promote vaccination against hepatitis B.