Occupational hazard exposure and hepatitis B vaccination uptake among police officers in Osun State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/wnjms.v8i1.7Keywords:
Hazard Exposures, Hepatitis B, Knowledge, Police Officers, Preventive PracticesAbstract
Introduction: The high prevalence of hepatitis B infection among crime victims puts police officers regularly exposed to them as a matter of duty at higher risk of being infected. This study assessed occupational hazard exposures and hepatitis B vaccination uptake among police officers in Osun State, Nigeria.
Methods: The study adopted a descriptive survey design, and a multistage sampling technique to select 372 respondents from 4,743 police officers, calculated using Cochran’s modified formula. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire having a Cronbach's alpha reliability score of 0.83. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages. Inferential statistics with Chi-square was used to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance.
Results: Most respondents had over 20 years of work experience. While 58% had good knowledge of hepatitis B infection prevention practices, only 28% reported good preventive practices, and 324 (87%) had not been vaccinated against the disease. Key hazards identified included needle stick injuries (11%) and exposure to blood from suspects’ wounds (47.1%). There was a significant relationship between knowledge level and preventive practices regarding hepatitis B.
Conclusion: This study explained the need for interventions to improve vaccination coverage, hazard mitigation, and adherence to preventive practices among police officers in Osun State.
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