Eman Ali Abd Elmoaty Sheha¹, Hanan Elzeblawy Hassan^2,, Amal Sarhan Eldesokey Genedy³, Sharbat Thabet Hassanine¹

Background: Hepatitis C virus is an emerging global epidemic; some nations have been more drastically affected than others. Egypt bears the highest incidence in the world. Awareness of the disease is still low, despite the alarming prevalence of the disease in the country. Aim: study educational program effects on mother's knowledge and practice regarding Hepatitis C in the rural areas. Design: A quasi-experimental. Settings: study was in Senover village in El-Fayoum city. Subjects: A purposive sample conducted at 90 homes which are near to the MCH of Senover village, were chosen randomly. Tools: tool I was a structured interview questionnaire divided into 3 parts to assess socio-demographic characteristics of mothers, mothers knowledge, and reported practices about hepatitis C. Tool II was a daily life-style assessment scale to assess the mothers’ health-habits and behavior. Results: The results of this study showed that 68.2% of mothers had insufficient knowledge about HCV disease, 86.4% had negative practices toward the disease, statistically significant differences in improving knowledge and practices regarding preventive measured after application the educational program were found. Also, mothers acquired sufficient knowledge and an increase in positive daily life-style practices was observed. Conclusion: The educational program improved mothers' knowledge and practices and improved the daily life-style which in-turn will reduce the prevalence of hepatitis C virus in the future. Recommendations: continuous educational programs among all family members regarding the preventive measures of HCV disease; especially in the rural areas.

hepatitis C virus, life-style practices, mothers, rural areas