Underlying problems in hepatitis B cases report and its countermeasures in Shaanxi province

Objective　The study was conducted to analyze the underlying problems of hepatitis B cases report in various medical institutions in Shaanxi province, to standardize the report and management of chronic diseases in accordance with those of hepatitis B. Methods　December 7-20, 2006，a stratified cluster random sample survey on the hepatitis B cases report was conducted in 69 medical institutions in 15 counties/districts of 5 cities in the province according to the requirements of Executive Plan of Surveys on Hepatitis B Case Report in Medical Institutions in 2006. SPSS was used to conduct statistical tests, and the matching of different databases was manually verified. Results Classification of reported hepatitis B cases was confusing. The diagnostic accordance rate of reported hepatitis B cases was low with average rate of 39.59% in 5 surveyed cities. The diagnostic accordance rates of chronic and acute nature of confirmed hepatitis B cases was low with the average rate of 27.54% in 5 cities. Multiple visits to hospital were made by chronic hepatitis B patients. Low awareness rates on diagnosis and report of hepatitis B cases were found in practitioners with the awareness rate of 15.07% for the diagnostic classification of hepatitis B cases. Conclusion　Many problems existed in the hepatitis B case report and the standardization of case classification for hepatitis B case report is urgently needed, the education on relevant laws and regulations and the training on the diagnostic criteria of infectious diseases and procedures of filling report card for the medical staff should be improved, the management of infectious diseases report in disease control centres should be strengthened, regular supervision and inspection to medical institutions should be conducted, and the verification of information reported should be carried out to improve the report quality.