A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HIV/AIDS KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF HEARING-IMPAIRED AND NON-HEARING-IMPAIRED SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN IBADAN

Objective: This study was conducted to compare HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes of hearing-impaired and non-hearing-impaired secondary school students in Ibadan, South-Western Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional survey of all the hearing impaired students and an equal number of non-hearing-impaired students enrolled in a half way school in Ibadan was conducted. Four non-hearing-impaired students did not complete the survey and their responses were excluded from the final analysis. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 11.0). Results: Seventy-eight hearing-impaired and non 74 non-hearing impaired students completed rhe survey. Thirty (38.5%) hearing-impaired and 67 (90.5%) and non-hearing-impaired students knew that HIV could be transmitted via semen, vaginal fluid and blood, (p<0.001). HIV/AIDS knowledge scores were calculated giving minimum and maximum scires of 0 and 15 respectively. Mean knowledge score for hearing-impaired students was 4.7(square 2.1) compared with 8.7(square 2.3) among non-hearing-impaired students (t-test=11.307, p < 0.001). Generally, the students' attitudes to HIV/AIDS prevention and PLWHA were not favorable with only hearing-impaired and 44 (59.5%) non-hearing-impaired students agreeing that it would be alright for them to be in the same class with someone who had AIDS. Conclusions The study showed that the hearing-impaired students had poorer knowledge and attitudes to HIV/AIDS compared with their non-hearing-impaired counterparts. There is a pressing need for development of HIV/AIDS education programmes specially designed to meet the needs of hearing impaired students.