Objective To understand the awareness of basic knowledge about hepatitis C, diagnosis and treatment and related policies in medical staff in medical institutions at all levels in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province.

Methods A questionnaire was designed to investigate the awareness of knowledge about prevention and treatment of hepatitis C in the medical staff. Software Excel 2010 and SPSS 19.0 were used for the data process and analysis, and univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify the factors affecting the awareness of the knowledge about hepatitis C.

Results A total of 4 319 valid questionnaires were collected and the overall awareness rate was 37.97%. The awareness rate of basic knowledge about hepatitis C was 67.47%, the complete awareness rate was 13.31%, and the correct answer rate was 32.53%–97.92%. The awareness rate of the knowledge about diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C was 30.40%, the complete awareness rate was 0.30%, and the correct answer rate was 24.33%–97.99%. The awareness rate of polices related hepatitis C prevention and control was 35.19%, the complete awareness rate was 8.43%, and the correct answer rate was 19.31%–92.43%. A total of 2 261 (52.35%) received hepatitis C knowledge training in the past year. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that hospital level, hospital category, department, educational level and receiving specific training or not in the past year were the influencing factors for awareness of hepatitis C related knowledge (all P＜0.05). There were significant differences in the awareness of basic knowledge about hepatitis C, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C, and related policies among medical staff in different departments and in different hospitals (P＜0.05).

Conclusion The awareness of diagnosis and treatment related knowledge and related policies of hepatitis C were not high in the medical staff in Yangzhou, and the proportion of the medical staff who received specific training on hepatitis C in the past year was also low. It is necessary to strengthen the related training in medical staff to improve their diagnosis and treatment level.