Evaluation of Knowledge and attitude of non-medical students about AIDS

Young people worldwide are considered as the major group at risk of AIDS. Education and prevention is the primary priority of health care for control of AIDS The purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and attitude of students in Qom non-medical universities on AIDS This study was conducted in 2012. This was a descriptive analytical study and samples included 588 students from non-medical universities in Qom city who were selected by convenient sampling method. The self-administrated questionnaire included a demographic questionnaire and Iranian- version of international questionnaire on AIDS. Data were analyzed using statistical tests including Kruscal - Wallis, Chi-square, t-test, ANOVA and Spearman correlations Findings revealed that majority (76%) of subjects were female. 28.2% of samples received their knowledge about AIDS and its prevention ways from radio and television, 1.4% from friends and 2.6 from university sources. The mean scores of domains included transmission myths (28.34±4.73), attitudes or prejudices about AIDS patients (19.75±3.72), personal risk (10.19±2.28), facts on AIDS transmission (12±3.41) and total score (70.04±8.77). Study results indicated that girls had more knowledge and better attitude about people with HIV/ AIDS than boys (p<0.0001). Although study findings indicated that students had almost high level of knowledge and attitude in relation to HIV/AIDS but this level of knowledge is not sufficient and students need developed educational programs.