Factors associated with completion of Hepatitis B vaccination doses among adults in Kikuube District, Western Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: The hepatitis B virus is one of the most serious human health problems, causing thousands of deaths per year. The disease is prevented by the administration of 3 doses of vaccine over an 18-month period. Completion of hepatitis B vaccine doses has been challenging. The study assessed the trends of Hepatitis B virus infection in Kikuube District, vaccination completion rates among those who initiated vaccination and the factors associated with completion of vaccination. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches. A total of 377 persons who had initiated hepatitis B vaccination in the last 6 months were randomly sampled for interviews. A total of 15 key informant interviews were conducted with in charges of health facilities on the subject matter. Health facility records were reviewed to assess the trends in hepatitis B virus infection those who tested for hepatitis B. Results: The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection was 2.87% in the year 2020 and 4.4% in 2021. 31.3% of those who initiated hepatitis B vaccination completed all the three doses. Factors associated with hepatitis B vaccine completion were; Sex; male (AOR =0.542 CI = 0.348-0.842), being married (AOR 4.645, CI 1.325-16.290), Anglican (AOR 0.470, CI 0.263-0.841), having no education (AOR 3.114, CI 1.676-5.787), primary level of education (AOR 10.162, CI 3.302- 31.272), earning less income less than 250,000 (AOR 2.716, CI 1.169-6.313) and also between 300,000 to 600,000 (OR 9.507, CI 1.931-46.80), living a distance less than 5km (AOR 5.27, CI 2.103-13.20) and being sensitized about hepatitis B vaccination (AOR 0.162, CI 0.040-0.647). xii Conclusion and recommendation: The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among the people in Kikuube District still remains high at 4.4% with low Hepatitis B vaccination completion rate (31.3%). There is need for the Ministry of Health and other donor agencies to create more awareness to the public and community members so as to increase on the level of uptake and completion of hepatitis B vaccination.