Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices regarding Hepatitis among foreign students of medical faculty in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan: A cross-sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63666/ejsmr.1694-9013.3.I.2025.61Keywords:
Hepatitis, Micriobiology, Medicine, Foreign Medical Student, PathologyAbstract
Introduction: Viral hepatitis remains a leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality, responsible for 1.3 million deaths globally in 2022. Despite being preventable and treatable, significant knowledge gaps persist, especially among future healthcare providers.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate hepatitis-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among foreign medical students and identify educational gaps affecting prevention and vaccination awareness.
Methodology: A cross-sectional prospective and descriptive study was conducted among 204 foreign students of medical faculty in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan using a pre-structured online questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS (v26), applying descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations, forming pie-charts and bar-graphs.
Results: Among respondents knowledge of enteric hepatitis (A and E) was high, with 83.3% and 70.6% correctly identifying food/water-borne transmission. Blood-borne transmission of HBV and HCV was recognized by 77% and 66%, respectively. Awareness of HDV’s co-dependence on HBV was limited (only 40%). Hepatitis B and A vaccine awareness stood at 77% and 78.4%, while only 25.5% and 43.1% reported availability for hepatitis D and E vaccines. Symptom recognition was high for jaundice (79.9%) and fatigue (75.5%). Preventive practice adherence, including universal precautions (M = 1.40) and PPE use (M = 2.59), was moderate. Knowledge accuracy improved progressively by academic year.
Conclusion: While overall hepatitis awareness was satisfactory, significant deficiencies remain in vaccine knowledge, clinical understanding of HDV/HEV, and preventive behaviours. Early, structured infection control education and vaccination literacy programs are essential to bridge these gaps.
References
1.CDC. Hepatitis viral infections overview. 2023.
2. World Health Organization. Global hepatitis report 2024.
3. Jacobsen, K.H. and Wiersma, S.T. (2010) Hepatitis A virus seroprevalence by age and world region, 1990 and 2005. Vaccine, 28, 6653-6657. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.08.037.
4. Rein DB, Stevens GA, Theaker J, Wittenborn JS, Wiersma ST. The global burden of hepatitis E virus genotypes 1 and 2 in 2005. Hepatology. 2012;55(4):988–997.DOI: 10.1002/hep.25505
5. Ott JJ, Stevens GA, Groeger J, Wiersma ST. Global epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection: New estimates of age-specific HBsAg seroprevalence and endemicity. Vaccine. 2012;30(12):2212–2219. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.12.116
6. Rizzetto M. Hepatitis D virus: Introduction and epidemiology. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2016;5(7):a021576. DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a021576
7. Wedemeyer H, Heidrich B, Manns MP. Hepatitis D virus infection—Not a vanishing disease in Europe. Hepatology. 2011;53(2):767–768. DOI: 10.1002/hep.21590
8. Polaris Observatory HCV Collaborators. Global prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus infection in 2015: A modelling study. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;2(3):161–176. DOI: 10.1016/S2468-1253(16)30181-9
9. Zampino R, Boemio A, Sagnelli C, Alessio L, Adinolfi LE, Sagnelli E, et al. Hepatitis B virus burden in developing countries. World J Gastroenterol. 2015;21(42):11941–11953. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i42.11941.
10. Chang MH, Chen CJ, Lai MS, Hsu HM, Wu TC, Kong MS, et al. Universal hepatitis B vaccination in Taiwan and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in children. N Engl J Med. 2017;336(26):1855–1859. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199706263362602.
11. Nader Alaridah, Raba’a F. Jarrar, Rayan M. Joudeh, Haneen Al-Abdallat, Layan Ismail, Zaina Alnajjar, Mohammad Jum’ah, Anas Haidar Abu-Humaidan. Knowledge Gaps and Determination of Attitude and Practice among Medical Students toward Hepatitis B Infection: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/2730516
12. World Health Organization. (2024). Global hepatitis report 2024: Action for access in low- and middle-income countries
13. Alqahtani, M., Alqahtani, A., Alqurashi, M., & Alshehri, F. (2019). Knowledge and awareness of hepatitis viruses among medical students. Journal of Infection and Public Health, 12(6), 861–865
14. Rizzetto, M. (2019). Hepatitis D virus: Introduction and epidemiology. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 9(12), a031799.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Eurasian Journal of Scientific and Multidisciplinary Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
