Abstract
The aim of the present work was to study the awareness of general public about the HBV infection among
Saudi population in Jeddah city. Study was conducted based on survey (questionnaire). Data of age, sex,
marital status (single, married, divorced, widowed), education (primary, middle, high school, university)
and occupation (employed, unemployed, healthcare, student etc) was collected during the period from 25
Nov 2017 to 10 Feb 2018 from the participants (n: 5106; age range: 21-36 years). The z score test was
applied for the comparison of percentage values. The p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results showed highly significant variations for the participants having little or more knowledge (65.35%)
compared to those with no knowledge (34.65%) about HBV infection. Significant variation for age, various
levels of education, and existence, contagiousness, vaccine protection and treatment of HBV infection was
found between those having awareness and those not having awareness of HBV infection. Some 75%
participants considered that there might be a vaccine for prevention of hepatitis B virus. Considering the
results, it is recommended that the general public should have awareness about their life style and decrease
the risk factors so that they may lead to better healthy life with fewer complications. It also seems equally
essential to have training programs at the governmental level to provide awareness and general knowledge
to masses about healthcare, hygiene and disease. Further survey studied are needed with this perspective to
comprehend the attitudes of people about HBV and related infections.
