Attitudes of healthcare professionals towards hepatitis C virus screening program

Abstract

Introduction Hepatitis C virus (HCV) newly affects about 1.5 million people per year [1]. Symptoms mainly occur only when life-threatening complications, such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, develop and they cause over 60 thousand deaths in Europe every year [2]. Early diagnostics in screening program is necessary to identify and cure patients completely and prevent complications [3]. In 2022, HCV screening program was launched in Lithuania. The positive attitude of healthcare professionals (HCPs) can make a significant impact on a successful screening program. Aim To evaluate the attitude towards HCV screening program of Lithuanian healthcare professionals. Methods An anonymous online survey, that consisted of 15 original questions that were prepared by authors, was conducted from November to December of 2022 in Lithuania. All willing healthcare professionals could participate in the survey. The study included 225 Lithuanian healthcare workers: physicians, resident physicians, nurses and nursing assistants. Statistical calculations were performed using SPSS 28.0 software. Statistically significant findings were assumed with p<0.05. Chi-square was used to determine a relationship between categorical variables (α =0,05). Results Out of 225 HCPs, 89.3% were female, 10.7% - male, 35.6% - nurses, 32.4% - physicians, 22.2% -resident physicians, 9.8% - nursing assistants. The average age was 34.2 years. 73.3% of participants stated that their knowledge about HCV is insufficient, 98.2% of them would like to know more. Most HCPs (44.9%) rate their knowledge about HCV as average. Top 3 ways HCPs get information about HCV are: scientific literature - 80.9%, other HCPs - 59.6%, media - 25.8%.64.4% of physicians, 61.3% of nurses, 56.0% of resident physicians and 36.4% of nursing assistants knew about HCV screening program before this survey. 39.6% of HCPs found out about the program from this survey, 36.9% - from other HCPs, 24.9% - from the order of the Ministry of Health, 12.4% - from media, 6.7% - from scientific literature, 3.1% - from their relatives, friends. 37.3% of HCPs did not know that in order to participate in this program they need to contact their family physician. 35.1% of HCPs are planning to participate in the program,33.8% do not belong to the target group, 14.2% have participated already, 9.8% of the respondents do not know yet, 7.1% are not planning to participate in the HCV screening program.95.1% of HCPs would recommend participating in this program to patients, 94.2% - to their relatives, physicians would recommend this program the most (95.9% and 97.3%, respectively).If there was a hepatitis C vaccine, 70.7% of HCPs would get it. Nurses were significantly more often likely to get vaccinated than not to vaccinate (53.8% vs. 12.5%, respectively; p<0.05). 85.3%of HCPs think that public awareness of HCV screening program is insufficient. Conclusions According to HCPs, only 26.7% of them have sufficient knowledge about HCV. HCPs mostly get information about HCV from scientific literature, other HCPs and media. 41.3% of respondents did not know about HCV screening program before this survey. Most HCPs, who are in the target group, plan to participate in HCV screening program. Physicians were most likely to recommend this program to their relatives and patients. More than two-thirds of HCPs would get vaccinated if there was a hepatitis C vaccine, especially nurses. The majority stated that society lacks information about the HCV screening program.