Knowledge of Undergraduate Medical and Non-Medical Students about HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control (II)

Abstract

Background & Objectives: To assess the knowledge of undergraduate medical and non-medical `students about the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS and to determine the effect of the curriculum applied in the colleges of medicine regarding HIV/AIDS on the level of knowledge of medical students compared with that of non-medical.Methods: Questionnaire survey using structured, self-administered questionnaire consisted of 29 closed-ended questions, concerning the knowledge of prevention and control of HIV/AIDS was distributed to 400 undergraduate students from Colleges of Medicine, Science and Arts in Al-Mustansirya University during the period from the 1st of October 2004 through May 2005.Results: The study showed that 95.5% of medical and 83.5% of non-medical students had good and 3% of medical and 15.5% of non-medical students had fair knowledge scores regarding HIV prevention .While 87.5% of medical and 56% of non-medical students had good and 10.5% of medical and 36.5% of non-medical students had fair knowledge scores regarding HIV/AIDS control.Conclusion :Generally, students showed good knowledge about the prevention and control of HIV/AID, and the level of medical students' knowledge was higher than that of non-medical, however some gaps in their knowledge still exist and ignorance of some basic facts related to HIV prevention were reported.Keywords: Knowledge, students, HIV/AIDS prevention and control.