Abstract

There is no absolute treatment of HIV/AIDS, therefore preventive measures have great importance on the control of the disease. There are many studies in which the knowledge deficiency of health personnel about HIV/AIDS and their negative attitudes towards HIV/AIDS patients were reported. This descriptive study was realized among health noncommisioned officer students in February 2004. Data were collected using questionnaires, designed by researchers. All participants were male. Mean age of those was 18.3+1.1. It was striking that only 39.2% of students know that hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease and knowledge deficiency about some transmision routes of the disease has been found among students. The students reported that school education is the primary soure of information of the disease. Newspapers and televison have been found as major information sources as reported in many studies conducted among adeloscents. As we considered the knowledge level and attitudes of students about HIV/AIDS, careful asssesment of the content and the duration of lectures in the curriculum on sexually transmitted disease and the emphasizing the importance of the subject to every health personnel at every occations would be beneficial.

Key words: HIV, AIDS, knowledge level, attitude, health noncommissioned officer students

Article Language: Turkish English