Southeast Asians have higher rates of liver cancer than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States. Chronic carriage
of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most common underlying cause of liver cancer in the majority of Asian populations. Our objectives
were to describe Vietnamese Americans’ awareness of hepatitis B, levels of HBV testing, and knowledge about hepatitis B transmission;
and to compare the HBV knowledge and practices of men and women. A community-based, in-person survey of Vietnamese men and
women was conducted in Seattle during 2002. Seven hundred and fifteen individuals (345 men and 370 women) completed the questionnaire.
Eighty-one percent of the respondents had heard of hepatitis B (76% of men, 86% of women) and 67% reported HBV testing (66%
of men, 68% of women). A majority of the participants knew that HBV can be transmitted during sexual intercourse (71% of men,
68% of women), by sharing toothbrushes (67% of men, 77% of women), and by sharing razors (59% of men, 67% of women). Less
than one-half knew that hepatitis B is not spread by eating food prepared by an infected person (46% of men, 27% of women),
nor by coughing (39% of men, 25% of women). One-third of our respondents did not recall being tested for HBV. Important knowledge
deficits about routes of hepatitis B transmission were identified. Continued efforts should be made to develop and implement
hepatitis B educational campaigns for Vietnamese immigrant communities. These efforts might be tailored to male and female
audiences.
Key words hepatitis B - liver cancer - Vietnamese Americans
Victoria M. Taylor is Full Member, Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.
John H. Choe is Acting Instructor, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Yutaka Yasui is
Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. Lin Li is Research Associate, Division
of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington. Nancy Burke is Assistant Professor,
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, California; and J. Carey Jackson is Associate Professor,
Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.