TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlates of hepatitis B testing in Ghana
T2 - The role of knowledge, stigma endorsement and knowing someone with hepatitis B
AU - Adjei, Charles Ampong
AU - Stutterheim, Sarah E.
AU - Bram, Fleuren
AU - Naab, Florence
AU - Ruiter, Robert A.C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Health and Social Care in the Community published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Hepatitis B testing is the gateway for prevention and care. However, previous studies document low hepatitis B testing uptake in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated knowledge, stigma endorsement and knowing someone with hepatitis B as correlates of hepatitis B testing behaviours among people in the Greater Accra and Northern regions of Ghana. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 971 participants (Greater Accra = 503, and Northern region = 468) between October 2018 and January 2019. Approximately 54% of the participants reported having been tested for hepatitis B. The logistic regression analyses showed that having greater hepatitis B knowledge was positively associated with hepatitis B testing (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.14–1.30). Higher hepatitis B stigma endorsement was negatively related to hepatitis B testing (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.96–0.99). Also, participants who knew someone (i.e. parent, sibling and/or friend) with hepatitis B were more likely to have tested compared to those who did not know someone with hepatitis B (OR = 7.15, 95% CI: 5.04–10.14). This study demonstrates that knowing someone with hepatitis B increases the likelihood of testing, highlighting the need to create safe and non-judgmental contexts for people with hepatitis B (PWHB) to disclose if they want to. Also, given that greater hepatitis B knowledge increases testing and hepatitis B stigma endorsement impedes testing, interventions that increase knowledge and reduce stigma should be incorporated in efforts to promote testing in Ghana.
AB - Hepatitis B testing is the gateway for prevention and care. However, previous studies document low hepatitis B testing uptake in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated knowledge, stigma endorsement and knowing someone with hepatitis B as correlates of hepatitis B testing behaviours among people in the Greater Accra and Northern regions of Ghana. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 971 participants (Greater Accra = 503, and Northern region = 468) between October 2018 and January 2019. Approximately 54% of the participants reported having been tested for hepatitis B. The logistic regression analyses showed that having greater hepatitis B knowledge was positively associated with hepatitis B testing (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.14–1.30). Higher hepatitis B stigma endorsement was negatively related to hepatitis B testing (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.96–0.99). Also, participants who knew someone (i.e. parent, sibling and/or friend) with hepatitis B were more likely to have tested compared to those who did not know someone with hepatitis B (OR = 7.15, 95% CI: 5.04–10.14). This study demonstrates that knowing someone with hepatitis B increases the likelihood of testing, highlighting the need to create safe and non-judgmental contexts for people with hepatitis B (PWHB) to disclose if they want to. Also, given that greater hepatitis B knowledge increases testing and hepatitis B stigma endorsement impedes testing, interventions that increase knowledge and reduce stigma should be incorporated in efforts to promote testing in Ghana.
KW - Ghana
KW - hepatitis B
KW - knowing someone with hepatitis B
KW - knowledge
KW - stigma
KW - testing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131826613&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/hsc.13860
DO - 10.1111/hsc.13860
M3 - Article
C2 - 35701984
AN - SCOPUS:85131826613
SN - 0966-0410
VL - 30
SP - e4564-e4573
JO - Health and Social Care in the Community
JF - Health and Social Care in the Community
IS - 6
ER -