A Comparative Study on the Effects of Verbal and Non-verbal Educa-tion on the Knowledge and Attitude of Soldiers Regarding the Transmis-sion and Prevention of AIDS

Todays attention on sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS has significantly increased. Military services is the best place that can help to prevent the spread of the disease. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of different educational methods on soldiers’ knowledge and attitudes about the transmission and prevention of AIDS.

Ninety tree soldiers were assigned to three training groups using stratified sampling. Data gathering tools contained questions related to knowledge and attitude. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.

According to the results regarding the attitudes of the soldiers in the lecture group, the difference between the pre-test and the post-test attitude scores was statistically significant (P=0.011). The difference of the attitudes between the pretest and posttest in the tutorial group was also significant (P=0.019). Knowledge of the participants in the lecture group and the training manual group differed significantly from that of the control group (P<0.01 and P<0.001 respectively).

According to the findings, the indirect training method could be more effective on the durability of the knowledge of the soldiers.