Analysis of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Hepatitis B Among Freshmen in Jiangsu Based on Lasso-Logistic Regression and Structural Equation Model

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) status of hepatitis B virus (HBV) among freshmen who were in the class of 2020 and from Jiangsu Province.

Methods

A random multistage sampling had been used to screen freshmen to conduct online questionnaire. The chi-square test was applied for pairwise comparison between sub-groups. Lasso regression and logistic regression were used to analyze the influencing factors of KAP about HBV. A structural equation model was established to explore the relationships among KAP of HBV.

Results

The total awareness rate of HBV among freshmen was 63.1%. More than 50% of freshmen reported that they were not willing to live with hepatitis B carriers. Only 51.0% of students had been immunized against HBV. The knowledge of HBV among students whose fathers had college/bachelor degree or above was 1.464 times higher than those whose fathers’ education level was junior high school or below (95% CI = 1.277~1.677). Both of positive attitude and behavior among female students were 1.424 times (95% CI = 1.329~1.525) and 1.468 times (95% CI = 1.291~1.669) than that within male students, respectively. The positive behaviors of students whose mothers had college education or above were 1.347 times higher than those whose mothers had the degree of junior high or below (95% CI = 1.147~1.582). Students who living with their parents were 1.167 times likely to have positive behaviors than those who living in other methods (95% CI = 1.020~1.334). The structural equation model had shown that the direct effect of knowledge on preventive motivation, attitude and behavior was 0.28, 0.53 and 0.10, respectively.

Conclusion

The population of freshmen still was far from a comprehensive understanding of HBV prevention and treatment. It is suggested that administrators of colleges and universities should pay more attentions to education of HBV knowledge as well as take multi-channel measures for prevention and management.

Keywords:

• hepatitis B virus
• knowledge attitude and practice
• freshmen
• Lasso-logistic regression
• structural equation model

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author Pingmin Wei ([email protected]) after co-authors’ approval of the request.

Acknowledgment

We thank the freshmen who participated in this research.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Jiangsu Provincial Health and Development Center Open Project in 2021(JSHD2021018) and the Key Research Project of Jiangsu Province’s “14th Five-Year Plan” Higher Education Scientific Research Plan (ZDDY12).