Abstract
Problem statement: As number of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs) increases, caring for them is a new rising problem. The World Health Organization encourages caring these people at home. Patients themselves also prefer to stay at home than staying in hospital. Adequate knowledge and positive attitude are important factors in providing better care for a patient. Approach: This study was conducted to assess level of knowledge and describe attitudes existing between family members of PLWAs. A cross-sectional study was conducted on PLWAs to assess the basic level of knowledge and attitude regarding AIDS. One hundred family members of PLWAs were selected using simple random sampling. A three-part questionnaire was delivered to measure HIV/AIDS-related attitude and knowledge. Results: Mean score of participants were 10.69±2.05 of a maximum of 14 points in knowledge. Knowledge on some aspect of the disease was quite high in the study group; Mean score was 25.42±6.05 from a maximum of 40 points in attitude. Female gender, higher income and education level were associated with a greater level of knowledge. Parents in comparison with other relatives and persons older than 60 usually had lower level of knowledge. Patients with higher income or education level also had more positive attitude toward patient. Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest that the family members of patients living with AIDS have a satisfactory level of essential knowledge on HIV/AIDS. Most of them have good attitudes toward person with HIV/AIDS. However, there are some misconceptions about the routes of transmission that can be problems on the way of providing homebased care.
Highlights
Since first Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) case was reported in September 1984 (AIDS Division, 2001), this syndrome has turned to a global health problem (Quinn et al, 1986)
Second part consisted of 14 questions assessing level of knowledge and third part consisted of 13 questions which targeted attitudes of family members toward HIV/AIDS
Mean score of participants were 10.69±2.05 of a maximum of 14 points in knowledge. This score was 25.42±6.05 of a maximum of 40 points in attitude part. In both knowledge and attitude section, family members were put in five groups from poor to excellent knowledge or attitude based on sum of scores they gained in each question
Summary
Since first Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) case was reported in September 1984 (AIDS Division, 2001), this syndrome has turned to a global health problem (Quinn et al, 1986). Prevalence of AIDS in Iran has had a constant rising pattern since first report in 1985. Figures which are reported by the health care system in Iran are about only 7510 cases in Iran, but this number has been estimated to be more than 30,000 cases by the World Health Organization (Newsletter of Aids, 2004; Ministry of Health, 2004). As number of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs) increases, caring for them is a new rising problem. Adequate knowledge and positive attitude are important factors in providing better care for a patient. An organized program to improve these two factors between these family care-providers seems necessary. As a first step in planning this program, this descriptive study was conducted to assess level of knowledge and describe attitudes existing between family members of PLWAs
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