Leveraging artificial intelligence in evaluating the effect of health education interventions on hepatitis B prevention practices among students in rural South-Western Nigeria

Prevention of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is most effectively achieved through early childhood vaccination programs. However, when vaccination opportunities are missed, primary prevention strategies become essential before individuals are exposed to the virus. This study examined the impact of an educational intervention on HBV infection prevention practices among secondary school students in Ogun State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental design was employed to recruit 256 consenting students from four secondary schools, which were randomly assigned to three intervention groups and one control group (C). Data were analyzed using ANOVA, paired-sample t-tests, and Cohen’s d effect size (ES). At baseline, there were no significant differences (p > .05) in HBV infection prevention practices among the four groups. However, by the 14th-week follow-up, a statistically significant improvement was observed across all intervention groups compared to the control group. Paired-sample t-tests revealed significant changes between baseline and the 14th-week follow-up for all intervention groups, but not for the control group (15.20 ± 2.44 vs. 15.25 ± 2.4; p = .92). The most pronounced improvement in HBV prevention practices was observed among participants in the peer-directed intervention group (E2) with an effect size of 3.11, 95% CI [2.66–3.55], p < .001. These findings suggest that peer education is an effective strategy for enhancing HBV infection prevention practices among peer network and should be integrated into school-based health promotion programs with the use of AI-enhanced learning tools like chatbots, analytics, and gamification, schools will actively promote Hepatitis B prevention and well-informed students.