Kowledge, attitude and performance of male workers of Birjand factories toward AIDS & hepatitis B

Ignorance and lack of proper health practices to follow is inevitable in any society; as predicted by the World Health Organization, the rate of HIV infection in 2020 reaches to ten percent in Iran and the rate of carriers of hepatitis B ranges from 1 percent% in Western countries to 20 percent in Southeast Asia. On the other hand, awareness and health behavior and how to treat people in different parts vary a lot with their culture, beliefs and socioeconomic classes. So this study is to determine knowledge, attitude and performance of male workers of Birjand plants toward AIDS and hepatitis B. This descriptive- analytic study was done on 400 male workers employed in factories in Birjand using cluster sampling from Kavir Tyre factory, the industrial center and Iran Magnesium by the method of quotas and selected randomly. A structured questionnaire, approved its content validity, was filled out by the researcher via interview. In total 351 questionnaires were applicable. To assess the data, a score was considered for each question. Data analysis was accomplished using descriptive statistics methods, frequency tests, mean and standard deviation, and analytical methods for knowledge and attitude which were changed into quantitative data by Chi Square test and one way t test, Pearson correlation and logistic regression. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Most of the 351 workers reviewed in this study were married (84.3%), Their mean age was 34.83±8.6 years. 58.6% of them had a high school diploma or higher degree. Television was mentioned as the source of information by 34.2% for hepatitis and 46.4% for AIDS. Generally, total knowledge score for these workers was 11.96±3.24 out of 15. There was a significant negative correlation between knowledge score, age and also work experience and the number of children.(P=0.001) But the relation of attitude and performance variables with these variables was not significant. There wasn’t any significant difference between performance of the workers with the level of education.(P=0.005). Furthermore, average attitude score and performance of the workers were not significantly different from the level of education. The difference between performance scores and marital status was significant (P=0.02). In general, it seems that despite an average level of awareness and attitude of workers employed in Birjand factories they benefit a high degree of performance in prevention of AIDS and hepatitis B. However, it is recommended to offer them some comprehensive information on the nature and prevention of these diseases through health education programs.