Association between HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Attitudes among African American Undergraduate Students in Jackson, Mississippi
Prince Onyekachi Andrew *
Lewisville Medical Pharmacy, 560 W Main St, Lewisville, TX 75057, USA.
Azad R. Bhuiyan
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, USA.
Jung Hye Sung
Biostatistics Concentration, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, USA.
Anthony Mawson
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Jackson State University, USA.
Mohammad Shahbazi
Department of Behavioral Health Promotion and Education, Jackson State University, USA.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to determine HIV/AIDS knowledge level, attitudes toward individuals living with HIV/AIDS and to explore the relationship between HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes among African American undergraduates in Jackson, Mississippi.
Methods: A cross-sectional method was used in this study. A total of 400 students were randomly selected from Jackson State University undergraduate students. Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire on HIV/AIDS knowledge and their attitudes toward individuals living with HIV and AIDS.
Results: Most of the students (96.5%) had good knowledge about HIV/AIDS, while some students had some misconceptions about HIV infection transmission. There was no significant difference between male and female students on HIV/AIDS knowledge in this study (χ2 = 3.05; P = 0.08). Most of the study participants (87.8%) showed positive attitudes toward individuals living with HIV/AIDS. However, there were some negative attitudes toward individuals living with HIV/AIDS among participants of this study. Male participants expressed more negative attitudes compared to female participants (19.1% vs. 8.5%, χ2 = 9.6; P < 0.002). HIV/AIDS knowledge was significantly associated with positive attitudes toward people living with the disease (p= 0.019, Pearson’s χ2 = 7.431).
Conclusions: In general, we concluded that most students (96.5%) in this study demonstrated high levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge and positive attitudes (87.8%). There was an association between knowledge of the disease and positive attitudes toward HIV/AIDS patients. However, there were HIV/AIDS knowledge gaps, misconceptions, and intolerant attitudes toward HIV positive patients also identified in this study. Hence, this study calls for more robust and age-appropriate HIV/AIDS awareness education programs geared towards reducing the impacts of negative attitudes toward individuals living with the disease, eliminating the gaps in HIV/AIDS knowledge and misconceptions identified in this study.
Keywords: Knowledge, attitudes, undergraduate students, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases.