Effects of counseling and education to patients presenting with hepatitis at a tertiary care hospital

Hepatitis is an escalating problem in Pakistan due to lack of awareness about its risk factors. To create awareness about risk factors for hepatitis in patients coming for its treatment at a tertiary care hospital using a counseling intervention. The study was conducted at civil hospital, Karachi. Patients having hepatitis B or C were enrolled. Each patient filled a pre and post counseling questionnaire [after 6 months]. A total of 153 hepatitis positive patients were counseled. There were 108 females and 45 males. Majority [83] had hepatitis C virus, 56 had hepatitis B virus, 08 had co-infection of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis D virus and 06 had hepatitis B virus with hepatitis C virus. Counseling was done on multiple parameters. Pre counseling figures for using brand new syringes were 32% which improved to 81% after counseling, for using screened blood these changed from 22% to 81%, for sterilized dental instruments they improved from 21% to 65% and for avoiding road side barbers they improved from 58% to 78%. The figures for hepatitis B virus vaccination in hepatitis C virus patients rose from 3% to 36.6% and for families rose from 2.6% to 43.1%. Great improvements were seen in the awareness and health seeking behavior of hepatitis cases following behavior change communication. More stress should be given on preventive strategies through mass awareness and counseling programs to control disease spread