Understanding Vulnerability Patterns of HIV/AIDS among Junior College Male Students: A Knowledge and Attitude Study in Central India

Authors

  • Prashant S Bagdey Dept. of Community Medicine, Gov-ernment Medical College, Nagpur
  • Rajan Kumar Barnwal NPSP, WHO, Dhanbad
  • Vilas V Dudhpachare Taluka Health Office, Chandrapur
  • Uday W Narlawar Dept. of Community Medicine, Gov-ernment Medical College, Nagpur

Keywords:

HIV/AIDS, Knowledge, Male Students, Vulnerability

Abstract

Introduction: In India, as of 2017 only 32% of young men knew how to prevent HIV (UNAIDS 2018).There is evidence of emerging epidemics among men who have sex with men in areas not previously recognized as having high HIV burdens. There is gap in evidence on knowledge and attitude about HIV/AIDS among male students, particularly from central India. The objective was to assess knowledge & attitude regarding HIV/AIDS among male students of a Junior College.

Methodology: This study was conducted in Bramhapuri block of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra. Data was collected from 277 study subjects.

Results: Mean Age of participants was 17.31 ± 0.91 years (16 - 25 years). The majority of study subjects 243 (87.73%) had heard about HIV. Knowledge about common mode of HIV/AIDS transmission like unprotected sexual contact, infected needle was found correct in the majority of study subjects. The attitude of study subjects towards person living with HIV (PLWH) was unfavorable with 67.76% subjects agreeing to accept the person in family. The knowledge about HIV/AIDS was better in urban resident students than rural students.

Conclusion: Majority of study subjects were aware of HIV/AIDS. However, they lacked complete knowledge about routes of transmission and their attitude towards a PLWH was unfavorable.

References

UNAIDS, Global report on HIV/AIDS 2017. Geneva, Swit-zerland. Available at: http://www.unaids.org. Accessed on 3 January 2019.

Thakuri DS, Thapa CB. Knowledge, attitude and perception regarding hiv/aids among postgraduate students of uni-versity of Pune. Int j community med public health 2018;5:1750-5.

HIV and AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. Available at https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/asia-pacific/india. Accessed on 15th January 2019.

Ahmed SI, Hassali MA. An assessment of the knowledge, attitudes, and risk perceptions of pharmacy students re-garding HIV/AIDS. American journal of pharmaceutical education 2009;73(1) 15.

National AIDS Control Programme IV. Available at http://naco.gov.in/nacp Accessed on 20th February 2019.

Global information and education on HIV and AIDS. Avail-able at https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-social-issues/key-affected populations/young-people. Accessed on 5th April 2019.

HIV and youth. Available at https://www.who.int/ mater-nal_child_students/topics/adolescence/hiv/en/ accessed on April 2019.

UNAIDS 2018. AIDSinfo. Available at https://aidsinfo. un-aids.org/ accessed on 14th September 2018.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2017) ‘India Nation-al Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) 2015-16. New Delhi. India.

Narayanan P. An exploration of elevated HIV and STI risk among male sex workers from India BMC Public Health 2013;13:1059

HIV and AIDS in India. Available at https:// www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/asia-pacific/ india Accessed on May 2019

National Behavioural Surveillance Survey 2006 Youth. Na-tional AIDS Control Organisation Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Government of India. http://naco. gov.in/sites/default/files/Youth_report_1.pdf Accessed on 26th December 2019

Gururaj, Maheshwaran. Kuppuswamy’s Socio-Economic Status Scale –A Revision of Income Parameter For 2014. In-ternational Journal of Recent Trends in Science and Tech-nology 2014;11(1):1-2.

Mangal A, Kumar V, Panesar S, Talwar R, Raut D, Singh S. Updated BG Prasad socioeconomic classification, 2014: A commentary. Indian J Public Health 2015;59:42-4

Ravi S, Pandey S. Awareness of HIV / AIDS among first year medical undergraduate in Nainital, Uttarakhand ,India. Indian J Prev Soc Med. 2011;42(2).

Reddy B.C., Rao A.R., Reddy D.S, Ravikumar B.P. Knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS among secondary school students in Khammam town, Andhra Pradesh. Int. J. Res. Dev. Health. 2013;1(3):103-8.

Shiferaw Y, Alemu A, Girma A, Getahun A, Kassa A, Gashaw A. Assessment of knowledge , attitude and risk behaviors towards HIV / AIDS and other sexual transmitted infection among preparatory students of Gondar town , north west Ethiopia. BMC Res Notes. 2011;4(1):505. Available from: http://www.biomed central.com/1756-0500/4/505 Accessed on 29th Dec. 2019.

McManus A, Dhar L. Study of knowledge, perception and attitude of student’s girls towards STIs/HIV, safer sex and sex education: (a cross sectional survey of urban students school girls in south Delhi, India). BMC women's health 2008;8(12):1-6

Bhalla S, Chandwani H, Singh D, Somasundaram C, Rasania SK and Singh S. Knowledge about hiv/aids among senior secondary school students in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Health and population-perspectives and issues 2005; 28(4):178-188

Lal P, Nath A, Badhan S, Ingle GK. A study of awareness about HIV/AIDS among senior secondary school children of Delhi. Indian Journal of Community Medicine 2008; 33(3):190-2.

Downloads

Published

2020-01-31

How to Cite

1.
Bagdey PS, Barnwal RK, Dudhpachare VV, Narlawar UW. Understanding Vulnerability Patterns of HIV/AIDS among Junior College Male Students: A Knowledge and Attitude Study in Central India. Natl J Community Med [Internet]. 2020 Jan. 31 [cited 2024 Apr. 25];11(01):1-6. Available from: https://njcmindia.com/index.php/file/article/view/199

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles