Educational Intervention among Barbers about Liver Cancer-Inducing Viruses: A Pilot Study from a Developing Country

Abstract

Liver cancer is among the most prevalent cancers in the world and it is mainly related to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). This study evaluated the effectiveness of educational intervention on knowledge and practices regarding hepatitis B and hepatitis C among barbers. After completion of baseline interviews of 70 barbers in Karachi, Pakistan, a 30-min educational session was conducted. The same sessions were repeated twice for all barbers at an interval of 1 month each for reinforcement. Post-intervention interviews were conducted after 1 month of the last session. Before intervention, only 11.4% of the study participants had scored good about the knowledge of HBV, which improved to 74.3% after intervention (p \u3c 0.001). Similarly, for HCV, significant improvement was observed after intervention. Regarding the safe practices to prevent HBV and HCV infections, \u3c 2% had scored to the level of good at baseline, which improved to 48.6% after intervention (p \u3c 0.001). Educational interventions to prevent cancer-induced viruses are highly effective even in illiterate/low-educated people