A scoping review on knowledge, beliefs, and practices towards HIV/AIDS among Indian adolescents

Introduction: HIV/AIDS remains a significant global health concern among adolescents (10-19 years) with a burden of 1.65 million individuals by the year 2022; adolescents account for about 4 % of the overall HIV burden while 10 % of new adult cases are converted from the adolescent group only. In India, adolescents often lack adequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS, influenced by various factors. This scoping review aims to comprehensively synthesize and assess existing evidence on the knowledge, beliefs, and practices related to HIV/AIDS among adolescents in India. Method: Literature searches were conducted in various databases with search limitations from January 2000 to December 2021. Ninety articles met our inclusion criteria. Data extraction was conducted, which followed a narrative summarization. A gap analysis was undertaken to highlight future research needs. A brief on government policies for creating awareness and preventing contraction among adolescents was presented for a better understanding. Results: A total of seventy-four studies during the period of 2011-2021 were included in this analysis. More than 80% of the studies were cross-sectional (84.44%) prioritising urban settings (37.77%). Geographically, nearly one-third (26.66%) of the studies were reported from the northern region of the country. Knowledge among both the gender and the entire adolescent group was assessed by 58.9% and 15.5% of studies respectively. Key areas including knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, sources of knowledge, attitude towards PLWH, and beliefs of adolescents regarding HIV/AIDS were prioritized. The findings indicated that males and urban adolescents exhibited higher levels of awareness about HIV/AIDS. However, several major research gaps around selected aspects of HIV/AIDS in India were identified. Conclusion: This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of existing literature around attitude and beliefs among Indian adolescents regarding HIV/AIDS and emphasizes the importance and scope of further research. The study provides important perspectives for future policies and interventions.