Hepatitis B Virus Vaccination Coverage, Compliance, and Barriers Among Healthcare Workers in Lemi Kura Subcity, Addis...

World Health Organization reported a lacuna in receiving hepatitis B virus vaccination for a considerable proportion of healthcare workers, with coverage ranging from 18% to 39% in developing countries. In Ethiopia, full immunization coverage ranges from 5.8% to 36.9% among healthcare workers. This study is aimed at assessing the hepatitis B virus vaccination coverage, its determinants and barriers among healthcare workers in Lemi Kura Subcity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2024.

A facility-based convergent parallel mixed design was conducted in a cross-sectional approach among 277 health workers from June 15, 2024 to July 15, 2024 in Health Centers of Lemi Kura Subcity, Addis Ababa. For the quantitative study, the retrospective samples were chosen using simple random sampling. Conversely, purposive sampling was employed for the qualitative study. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent determinants of HBV vaccination. Variables with p value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Hepatitis B vaccination rate was 78.3% (95% CI: 73.6, 83.0). Being female (AOR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.21, 5.20), having more than 6 years of experience (AOR: 6.35; 95% CI: 2.33, 17.30), history of exposure to a person infected with hepatitis B (AOR: 2.88; 95% CI: 1.33, 6.21), screened for HBV (AOR: 2.72; 95% CI: 1.36, 5.41), and favorable attitude toward hepatitis B (AOR: 7.53; 95% CI: 3.11, 18.23) were statistically significant in multivariable analysis. Moreover, limited resources, misinformation, and low public awareness, workforce challenges, cost and affordability, and stigma and cultural barriers were reported challenges, and improving access, capacity building, and community engagement were reported opportunities of HBV vaccination.

This study found that HBV vaccination coverage among healthcare workers in public health centers of Lemi Kura Subcity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was relatively high compared with several previous reports from similar settings. Vaccination status was independently associated with sex, years of professional experience, history of occupational exposure, prior HBV screening, and attitude toward HBV vaccination.