Students' knowledge about AIDS and their attitudes and behaviours towards HIV-positive or diseased persons in Nis, Serbia

OBJECTIVE: to assess the level of knowledge about HIV infection among students of the city of Nis, Serbia, through the evaluation of what was their attitude towards social contacts with HIV-positive/diseased subjects, their opinion about the treatment of HIV-positive/diseased subjects, and the sanctions for their inadequate behavior. DESIGN: the study was performed in December 2010 as cross-sectional epidemiological survey on a sample of 260 families chosen randomly from telephone book of the City of Nis, Serbia. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: the study population was composed from 143 university students and 64 high-school students. A questionnaire made up of 53 questions about HIV infection and about attitudes towards HIV-positive/diseased subjects was administered to the participants. RESULTS: right answers about the sources of HIV infection ranged from 53.1% to 100%; right answers about mode of transmission of HIV infection ranged from 46.4% to 100%. 79.2% students expressed the opinion that HIV positive/diseased persons should be treated by the society in the same way as other patients, but only 3.7% of them expressed the wish to have social relations with them. Only 28% of the students agreed that HIV infected subjects should be cured in the same medical institutions with other patients. Concerning the responses about possible sanctions towards HIV-positive/diseased subjects who spread the infection deliberately, 28% of the students agreed that they should undergo administrative or penal sanctions. CONCLUSIONS: student's level of knowledge (both from high schools and universities) about HIV is generally satisfactory, with some exceptions that may be corrected with a better sanitary education. Theoretical attitude of students towards HIV positive/diseased subjects is generally positive, but these results are in clear contrast with answers about relations with these persons in everyday life.