Improving Knowledge and Attitudes of Health Care Providers Following Training on HIV/AIDS Related Issues: A Study in an Urban Turkish Area

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitudes and risk perception among health care providers in Izmir. Material and Methods: A pretest and posttest patterned intervention study was conducted in 2007 among health care providers participating in a training course on HIV/AIDS and universal precautions. The participants consisted of 158 health care professionals from 7 public hospitals and 2 public dental clinics. Information was collected regarding demographic details, HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about patients at the beginning and the end of the course. Pre- and post-training dichotomous point scale scores were compared. Results: Of the participants, 72.6 % were females. Only 30.0 % of the respondents reported a scalpel or needle stick injury at least once last year. Some of the participants (40%) thought that it was necessary to take extra infection control precautions for patients with HIV. The average pre- and post-training mean knowledge scores were 9.32 +/- 2.1 (3-13) and 12.76 +/- 2.3 (5-17), respectively. The mean pre- and post-training beliefs scores were 12.37 +/- 3.1 (3-19) and 15.57 +/- 3.8 (6-22), respectively. There were significant differences in the pre- and post-training mean scores of the responses related to attitudes toward patients with AIDS. Conclusion: There was improvement in knowledge and negative attitudes on patients with AIDS at the end of the training. The results of this study suggested that the negative attitudes of health care providers towards individuals with AIDS due to the fear of transmission and inadequate knowledge could be improved with training.