Knowledge and attitude about HIV / AIDS among pregnant women in yazd, Iran

Since AIDS is not only a vital medical problem, but also a socioeconomic complication,therefore increasing people''s knowledge and replacing their unhealthy behavior by a healthy one is ofimportant consideration. Women, specially in reproductive ages of their life, have a special situationregarding the probability of pregnancy and infection of their fetus.

The aim of this study was to explore pregnant women''s knowledge about HIV/AIDS, theirperception of risk, risk behavior and management, and their attitudes towards AIDS.

In a cross sectional study, a total of 120 pregnant women, who referred tofamily health clinics in Yazd, were selected by simple random sampling. Information was collected via aspecial designed questionnaire containing 22 questions for evaluating knowledge and 6 questions forevaluating attitude. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square test with SPSS software.

The knowledge of pregnant women about AIDS was not significantly different in different agegroups (p=0.151), while it had a significant relationship with their education (p=0.000). There was acorrelation between general knowledge and attitude in pregnant women (p=0.033) (r=0.126). The attitudeabout AIDS in pregnant women was fairly good and there was a significant difference in this regardrelated to their education (p=0.000), while there was not significant difference regarding their age(p=0.410) (Mean =19.8).

There is an urgent need for HIV prevention efforts, such as health education and focusing onthe pregnant women in developing world. Health educators should tailor education programs for womenat risk, particularly those with lower education, to enhance their knowledge about HIV and to improvetheir attitude about AIDS.