Hafiz Muhammad Hamza Arshad, Asif Saleem, Sayeda Sobia Qasim, Waseem Haider, Sayyeda Ifrah Ali, Shahla Raza.
The Use of Modified Delphi Approach about hepatitis B and C Transmission and Level of Awareness in Community Settings.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;12(3):1275-8.

Aim: To establish consensus about routes of transmission of hepatitis B and C and to assess awareness in community Methodology: A three round Modified Delphi study via questionnaires was conducted in a panel of experts consisting of 80 doctors of medical wards of Mayo Hospital, Lahore from March to September 2017 who were selected through convenient sampling. Results: The response rate for first round was 100% (n=80) while of second and third round was 87.5% (n=70). The experts agreed on ten possible routes of transmission of both Hepatitis B and C. These include surgical and dental procedures, dialysis, ear/nose piercing and tattooing, sharing syringes and razors, blood transfusions, sexual contact, organ transplant, sharing nail-cutters, colonoscopy. Two routes of transmission were specified by experts for only Hepatitis B which include child-birth and vertical transmission. Regarding awareness about hepatitis B and C in public, results showed that majority of the patients were aware that these are diseases of liver, about their treatment, how it is spread whereas a few knew about their symptoms and causes respectively. This study finalized twelve routes of transmission of Hepatitis B and C and identified low public awareness about this disease. Conclusion: As Mayo Hospital is a major hospital of Punjab and some of the best doctors are available here, the results of this study will definitely prove useful in preventing spread of Hepatitis B and C and lowering its prevalence.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com