Gender Differences in the Prevalence of Blood-Borne Infectious Diseases Among University Students: A Chi-Square and Risk-Ratio Analysis

Abstract

Blood-borne infectious diseases — namely Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) — remain a significant public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. University students represent a particularly vulnerable group owing to their age profile, potential sexual activity, and variable health literacy. This study aimed to determine whether gender-based differences in the seroprevalence of HBsAg, HCV, and HIV are statistically significant among newly admitted students at Federal University Gusau. A cross-sectional analytical design was employed using the complete 2024/2025 serological screening register (N = 1,707; male = 1,230; female = 477). For each infection, a 2 × 2 contingency table was constructed, and chi-square statistics, relative risk (RR), and odds ratio (OR) were computed analytically. HBsAg prevalence was 8.54% in males and 5.66% in females (χ²[1] = 3.59, p = 0.058; RR = 1.51, 95% CI [1.00, 2.27]; OR = 1.56, 95% CI [1.01, 2.41]). HCV prevalence was 1.22% (male) versus 0.84% (female) (χ²[1] = 0.17, p = 0.677), whilst HIV prevalence was 0.73% (male) versus 1.05% (female) (χ²[1] = 0.12, p = 0.725). HBsAg exhibited a borderline-significant gender disparity in which male students carried a 51% higher relative risk than their female counterparts. No statistically significant gender differences were detected for HCV or HIV. These findings support gender-targeted HBV vaccination campaigns and underscore the need for larger, adequately powered multi-cohort studies.