Knowledge, Health Belief, and Vaccination Behavior on Hepatitis A among University Students

Kim, Kyung Ja; Hwang, Tae Yoon; Lee, Kyeong Soo

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
This study was to investigate the knowledge, health belief, and vaccination behavior on hepatitis A among university students.
METHODS
A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted from 3(rd) to 25(th) March, 2014 and 197 subjects were enrolled in statistical analysis.
RESULTS
The result showed that the score for knowledge of the subjects on hepatitis A was 4.59±3.06 out of 15 points, for health belief 2.39±0.28 out of 4 points, and the vaccination rate of the subjects was 12.7%. There was significant difference in hepatitis A knowledge score according to experience of hepatitis A check-up and hepatitis A vaccination history of family members, and in health belief according to gender. For hepatitis A vaccination there was significant difference according to experience of hepatitis A check-up, family history of liver disease, hepatitis A vaccination history of family members, and education history of hepatitis A. As a result of logistic regression analysis experience of hepatitis check-up and hepatitis A vaccination history of family members were significant factors for hepatitis A vaccination.
CONCLUSIONS
The level of knowledge, health belief for hepatitis A of the subjects was low and vaccination rate also low. The experience of hepatitis A check-up and hepatitis A vaccination history of family members were factors affecting hepatitis A vaccination. It would be necessary to develop programs for improving level of knowledge and health belief and raising the rate of hepatitis A vaccination for the university students in Korea.