Perceived susceptibility to AIDS in men living with HIV: a qualitative research

Objective (s): To explore perceptions of men living with HIV regarding perceived susceptibility to sexually transmission of HIV.

In-depth، semi-structured interviews were held with a purposively selected group of individuals living with HIV recruited from three HIV care clinics in Tehran، Iran. Participants were initially selected from HIV-positive male patients by convenience sampling and narrowed-down by maximum diversity sampling. All interviews were recorded and typed، and the codes were extracted from reviews. Data were analyzed using the content analysis approach.

In this study 32 participants were interviewed. Half of participants did not know that they are at risk of AIDS and indicated that they did not use condoms in their sexual relationship. The majority of participants did not believe that the disease could be transmitted during unprotected sexual contact and thought that only men who have sex with men could be affected with HIV. In contrast، others knew themselves at risk of AIDS، but believed that this is out of their control and it depends on God’s willing.

Extensive public education on prevention of HIV transmission. for all groups especially thos who are at higher risk is recommended.