Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and associated risk factors among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Mulago Hospital, Uganda: a cross-sectional study

AIM: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Mulago Hospital. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. SETTING: Mulago National Referral Hospital, Uganda, antenatal clinic. PARTICIPANTS: We randomly selected 340 pregnant women attending their first antenatal visit at Mulago Hospital antenatal clinic. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity. RESULTS: We recruited 340 participants, with a mean age of 27±5.7 years, and a median gravidity of 3. The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic in Mulago Hospital, in our study, was 2.9% (95% CI 1.58% to 5.40%, n=10). Factors positively associated with hepatitis B virus infection were: marital status (adjusted OR (aOR)=11.37, p=0.002), having a hepatitis B positive family member (aOR=49.52, p<0.001) and having had a blood or body fluid splash to mucous membranes from a hepatitis B positive patient (aOR=61.69, p=0.015). Other factors such as age, socioeconomic status, number of sexual partners, HIV serostatus, piercing of ears and history of blood transfusion were not significantly associated with hepatitis B virus infection in this study. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Mulago Hospital was of intermediate endemicity. We found that marital status, having a hepatitis B positive family member at home and having had a blood or body fluid splash to mucous membranes from a hepatitis B positive patient were independently associated with hepatitis B infection. Factors such as age, HIV status, history of blood transfusion, piercing of ears and social status were not associated with hepatitis B status in this study.