Awareness and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS among residents of Kandy

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorNavaratna, Samidi
dc.contributor.authorKanda, Koji
dc.contributor.authorDharmaratne, Samath D.
dc.contributor.authorTennakoon, Sampath
dc.contributor.authorJayasinghe, Ananda
dc.contributor.authorJayasekera, Niroshan
dc.contributor.authorNagano, Katsutoshi
dc.contributor.authorObayashi, Yoshihide
dc.contributor.authorArai, Asuna
dc.contributor.authorTamashiro, Hiko
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-25T06:27:52Z
dc.date.available2024-04-25T06:27:52Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.description.abstractCurrently, interventions for HIV/AIDS control in Sri Lanka are only carried out among the most-at-risk populations. This study was conducted to identify the level of awareness and stigma-related attitudes among the general population of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 869 residents of 18-64 years of age in Kandy, Sri Lanka. A self-administered questionnaire was utilised to obtain information about stigma, discrimination and HIV/AIDS-related knowledge. Chi-square test and multivariate analysis were applied to find possible associations between HIV-related variables and socio-demographic indicators. Response rate was 82.0%. Overall, 93.5% of the participants have heard of HIV/AIDS but the knowledge on HIV/AIDS was low with an average score of 51.7%, no statistically significant difference between genders (p = 0.352). Only 58.1% were aware that a condom was an effective tool for its prevention. There were many misconceptions related to epidemiology of HIV/AIDS. The participants showed more positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) for all questionnaire items except for those listed under shame and blame. Positive attitudes towards PLHIV were observed to be greater among those with a better HIV/AIDS-related knowledge score. There was no significant association between the attitudes towards PLHIV and socio-demographic characteristics such as ethnicity and religion. There is a greater need of making attempts towards educating the public regarding HIV/AIDS to eliminate misconceptions prevalent in the society. Stigma-related attitudes are mainly due to shame and blame associated with the disease. As the attitudes towards PLHIV were more positive among those with a better HIV/AIDS-related knowledge score, targeted HIV/AIDS-related health education interventions maybe recommended in this regard.
dc.identifier.citationAIDS Care:Psychological Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDs/HIV
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.lib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/20.500.14444/375
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherTaylor and Francis
dc.subjectCommunity medicine
dc.subjectHIV/AIDS control
dc.subjectStigma-related attitudes
dc.subjectAIDS awareness
dc.subjectKandy
dc.subjectSri Lanka
dc.titleAwareness and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS among residents of Kandy
dc.typeArticle
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS HIV-3.pdf
Size:
62.35 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Faculty of Medicine