Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING HIV/AIDS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

Dr. L Reddenna*, V Amruth Raj, K Siddartha and Sunil Gyawali

ABSTRACT

Objective: HIV/AIDS is emerged as one of the most chief public health issues. Evaluation of awareness levels is imperative because it helps to determine the need for interventions. This study intended to evaluate the knowledge of young students concerning HIV/AIDS. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among youths aged 15-24 years in schools and colleges of the madanapalli region of chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Proportions were used for analysis. Results: The mean age of participants is 19.5 years. Nearly half of the respondents were males (51.7%). 95.82% of study participants had heard of HIV/AIDS. The majority (more than 85%) of the participants among those who had heard about HIV/AIDS were aware of various preventive measures. Misconceptions concerning the transmission of HIV were distinguished in the study subjects. It was establish that knowledge of HIV/AIDS was privileged among the group aged 20 to 24 than 15 to 19 years age group. One of the core results was that mainstream of the student’s judge that HIV was transmitted through unsafe sexual activities. Condoms were regarded as main safeguard from HIV/AIDS as 94.91 % of the students reported it as one of the method of prevention. Conclusion: A very considerable judgment of this study was that all the students who participated in this study had an excellent level of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS. Appropriate health education should be given in a way to convey behavioral change targeting at entity risk behavior.

Keywords: Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome, health education, preventive measures, transmission, and young people.