Qais Mahmood Sikandar, Raza Malik, Rizwan Afzal.
Knowledge, attitude and practices of college students of Rawalpindi regarding HIV/AIDS.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;39(1):29-34.

The study was carried out at intermediate and degree colleges in urban area of Rawalpindi, to asses knowledge, attitude and practices of college students regarding HIV/AIDS. Six colleges were selected 3 girls and 3 boys using probability proportional to size technique. All students of one class from each college were included as clusters. The sample size taken was 152 males and 150 females students. The mean age of the students was 18.4 years. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. All participants had some knowledge about HIV/AIDS. For most of the participants the source of information was Television. Most of the participants had awareness regarding common modes of transmission of HIV/AIDS. On average 58% of males and 49% of females had correct knowledge about modes of transmission of HIV/AIDS. 58% of males and 68% of females believed that HIV/AIDS could not be transmitted from pregnant mother to newborn. 86% and 54% males and 83% and 55% females were not aware of the fact that HIV/AIDS can be transmitted through tattooing and ear/nose piercing respectively. There were gaps in the knowledge as how HIV/AIDS cannot spread. 45% of males were of the opinion that HIV/AIDS can be transmitted through kissing and sneezing while 46% and 58% of females consider kissing and sneezing as mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS. Significant gaps and areas of weakness regarding HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitude and practices were found among intermediate and degree college students of Rawalpindi and there is growing need to develop training programs and include health education syllabus emphasizing HIV/AIDS knowledge in the curriculum of all the colleges.

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