Hepatitis B virus and pre-employment examination
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/dcj.2024.6Keywords:
hepatitis B virus, pre-employment examination, applicant, job, factorAbstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is transmitted through bloodborne contact and sexual intercourse. Occupations that involve the exposure to blood, such as healthcare workers and emergency responders, are at a higher risk of HBV infection. However, despite these transmission routes, many workplaces asked job applicants for their HBsAg test results. This is a cross-sectional analytic study aimed to 1) determine the prevalence of HBsAg testing for employment application, 2) assess the prevalence of HBV infection, and 3) identify factors associated with prevalence of HBV infection. This study enrolled job applicants who underwent pre-employment examinations in Chonburi hospital between May 2019 and December 2022, comprising 8,022 cases. Data were collected from electronic medical records included the date of visit, sex, age, marital status, job applied for, and result of HBsAg. Descriptive statistics were utilized. Evaluation of factors related to the prevalence of HBV infection was done by simple and multiple logistic regression. The findings revealed that total of 1,872 or 23,3% requested HBsAg testing for employment application. Regarding job categories, HBsAg testing in food handlers, healthcare workers, service workers, and manufacturing workers were 52.5%, 46.2%, 16.6%, and 9.4%, respectively. The prevalence of HBV infection among the applicants was 1.9%. Factors significantly associated with HBV infection (p<0.05) were age 41-50 years (AOR=12.6; 95% CI: 1.6-102.6), age 51-60 years (AOR=12.7; 95% CI: 1.3-123.9) and married (AOR=2.25; 95% CI: 1.1-4.8). In conclusion, applicants were facing unnecessary HBsAg testing. Additionally, the prevalence of HBV infection among applicants was found to be low and not significantly associated with job categories. Consequently, employers should consider discontinuing the requirement for HBsAg results from job applicants.
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