Awareness and satisfaction of the National Hepatitis C Virus screening campaign among a sample of the general population in Egypt.

Anwar, Ismail; Mustafa, Mohammed; ElDesouky, Eman; Ammar, Islam; Salem, Marwa; Abdallah, Mohamed

doi:10.21608/mid.2024.282480.1895

Awareness and satisfaction of the National Hepatitis C Virus screening campaign among a sample of the general population in Egypt.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Endemic Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Kasr Alainy Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

² Public Health and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

³ Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo, Egypt

⁴ Tropical Medicine Department, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

⁵ Medical Research Division, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt

10.21608/mid.2024.282480.1895

Abstract

Background: The researchers conducted the current study to explore knowledge and satisfaction with the Hepatitis C Healthy Lives Initiative among a sample of Egyptians. Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional study was carried out among 1,193 clients attending HCV screening sites via consecutive sampling technique. A structured interview questionnaire was used, including three sections: sociodemographic characteristics, satisfaction with the hepatitis C screening program, and HCV-related knowledge. Results: Approximately half of the enrolled participants showed good HCV knowledge. Males had a higher percentage (51.0%) of good knowledge scores (p = 0.029). Individuals with a university degree scored higher (65.9%) than those with other levels of education. More than half of the participants (701, 58.8%) reported high satisfaction with the screening campaign, with patients with no comorbidities showing more satisfaction (p < 0.05). Participants were motivated to be screened to check their health status (94.9%) and were encouraged mostly by family members (65.9%). Regression analysis revealed that higher education level, employment, having no comorbidity, not living in slums, and having no negative family history of HCV were significant factors in predicting a high level of knowledge. Conclusion: The current study revealed that half of the enrolled participants showed good HCV knowledge. The majority of the study participants were satisfied with the screening campaign. The media played a crucial role in raising awareness of the campaign to eliminate HCV, and it is necessary to consider introducing HCV education via mass media.

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