Prevalence of hepatitis B virus among applicants for recruitment into Nigeria police force in Osun State, southwestern Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20233078Keywords:
Police officers, Applicants, Hepatitis B, Osun State, Prevalence, RecruitmentsAbstract
Background: Police officers are likely to have blood-borne virus exposure like hepatitis B virus, while on duty. It is important to know the hepatitis B status of applicants at entry point of recruitment into the force to avoid employing applicants that can spread the virus to the citizens. This study determined the prevalence of hepatitis B infection among applicants for recruitment into the Nigerian police force in Osun State, southwestern Nigeria.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 165 applicants from 30 LGAs in Osun State, selected using a multistage sampling technique, research data was aloof from the recruitments’ exercise registers and records, univariate, bivariate and multivariate were done using IBM SPSS version 25.0 and statistical level of significance was set at P<0.05.
Results: The mean age of respondents was 22.08±2.428. The Prevalence of HBV was 43.6%. There was a statistically significant association between the applicants' HBV status and their socio-demographic status p=0.014. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that: applicants from Ila, Ede north and Irewole LGAs are eight times less likely to have hepatitis B virus (OR: 0.124 and 0.120), those from Ejigbo and Isokan LGAs are seven times less likely to have HBV (OR: 0.135 and 0.132) and applicants from Odo-Otin LGA of Osun state are eleven times less likely to have HBV (OR: 0.088) compared to other local governments areas.
Conclusions: More than two-fifths of the applicants were tested positive for HBV, this proportion cannot be overlooked as they could exposed colleague, or citizen to the infection.
References
Elijah MI, Ireebanije FJ. A Survey for Hepatitis ‘ B ’ Infection among Prison Inmates in. J Pharm Biol Sci. 2014;9(1):134–7.
World Health Organization. Hepatitis B [Internet]. WHO Publication. 2022 [cited 2023 Feb 9]. p. 5–9. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-b
Kölgelier S, Demir NA, Demir LS, Özçimen S, İnkaya AÇ. Knowledge Level of Hepatitis B and its Prevalance in Policemen Working in Adiyaman. Eur J Gen Med. 2015;12(2):114–7.
Wilkins T, Sams R, Carpenter M. Hepatitis B : Screening , Prevention , Diagnosis , and Treatment. Am Fam Physician. 2019;99.
Trépo C, Chan HLY, Lok A, Lyon HC De. Hepatitis B virus infection. 2014;6736(14):1–11.
ANZPAA. Police and Blood-Borne Viruses. Aust New Zeal Polic Advis Agency Dep Heal Ageing [Internet]. 2020;(7):1–8. Available from: www.ashm.org.au
Welch J, Tilzey AJ, Bertrand J, Bott ECA, Banatvala JE. Risk to metropolitan police officers from exposure to hepatitis B. Br Med J. 1988;297(6652):835–6.
Bandaranayake DR, Salmond CE, Tobias MI. Occupational risk of hepatitis b for police and customs personnel. Am J Epidemiol. 1991;134(12):1447–53.
NPC. Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, Calverton Maryland. NPC and ORC Macro [Internet]. National Population Commission (NPC). 2018 [cited 2023 Feb 9]. p. 45–7. Available from: https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR359/FR359.pdf
Adjei AA, Armah HB, Gbagbo F, Ampofo WK, Boamah I, Adu-Gyamfi C, et al. Correlates of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections among prison inmates and officers in Ghana: A national multicenter study. BMC Infect Dis. 2008;8:1–12.
