Clinical studyCorrelates of hepatitis B vaccination in a high-risk population: an internet sample
Section snippets
Methods
After securing approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, we established an Internet data collection site. Results from Internet searches for homosexually oriented web sites were used to identify webmasters who were solicited to establish linkages from their web sites to our data collection site. We also posted notices in “guest books” of homosexually oriented web sites. We announced the anonymous study via electronic mailing lists, targeting lists
Results
Of the 628 respondents who completed the survey, 565 (90%) reported living in the United States, of whom 123 (22%) were women and 62 (11%) were heterosexual men. Of the 381 US men who reported same-sex sexual behavior, 328 identified themselves as “gay,” “having sex with members of the same sex,” and 53 identified themselves as “bisexual,” “having sex with both men and women.” The 336 (88%) of these 381 men who reported knowing their vaccination status comprise the sample.
The mean (± SD) age
Discussion
There is an urgent need to enhance awareness and facilitate vaccination among populations at risk for hepatitis B virus infection. Although more than 40% of respondents reported in this study reported vaccination, more than 20% reported no source of information about hepatitis. Furthermore, many respondents reported engaging in behaviors that put them and their sexual partners at risk for hepatitis B virus infection. Given that hepatitis B virus transmission can result from mucous membrane
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Erin Smith, MPH, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, the survey respondents, and the various webmasters and listserv owners who established links to our web site and distributed our web address.
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