Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2025
Abstract
Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a condition that disproportionately affects Asian Americans in the United States. Knowledge of transmission is crucial for CHB patients to practice prevention methods to limit the spread of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), but also live their lives free from unwarranted fears or restrictions. Among Asian CHB patients, several misperceptions about HBV transmission have been identified. This analysis aims to assess the current state of HBV knowledge among a cohort of Korean-American CHB patients. This mixed-methods study includes 363 respondents who completed a survey in either Korean (N = 298) or English (N = 65) at two clinical care settings in Philadelphia (N = 161) and Los Angeles (N = 202); 30 participants also completed in-depth interviews. Knowledge was measured on a 10-point scale, asking patients yes or no transmission questions (n = 10, alpha = 0.87). The average knowledge score was 6.3. In multivariate analyses, older age was associated with lower knowledge (β=-0.25, p < 0.001). More years of formal education (β = 0.09, p = 0.076) and utilizing more sources for health information (β = 0.12, p = 0.023) were both independently associated with higher knowledge scores. Qualitative findings show that misperceptions about transmission through shared food still exist and that provider communication is an important part of knowledge acquisition. These results suggest that despite receiving specialized, culturally concordant medical care for their disease, some Korean-American CHB patients have an inadequate understanding of transmission and that opportunities exist to improve education in this population. Identifying additional factors that influence knowledge acquisition and retention is key to developing culturally effective education interventions for this population.
Recommended Citation
Lee, Giyoung; Juon, Hee-Soon; Kim, Eunji; Smith, Katherine C; Hann, Hie-Won; Chang, Mimi; and Klassen, Ann C., "HBV Transmission Knowledge Among Korean-American Chronic Hepatitis B Patients in the United States" (2025). Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty Papers. Paper 112.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/gastro_hepfp/112
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
39487356
Language
English
Included in
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Gastroenterology Commons
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in Journal of community health, Volume 50, Issue 2, April 2025, Pages 306 - 316.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-024-01412-y.
Copyright © The Author(s) 2024