HIV/AIDS awareness and knowledge among secondary school students in China

With a goal of helping design appropriate HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs for adolescents in China, we analyzed data from 995 secondary school students in Nanjing. Our analysis examined the students' sources of HIV/AIDS information and assessed the overall level, and possible gender and grade (middle school vs. high school) differences, in their HIV/AIDS awareness and knowledge. Data in the current study indicated an overall low and inconsistent level of AIDS knowledge among secondary school students in China. Most of the students could identify models of HIV transmission, but a large proportion held misconceptions regarding symptoms, activities that did not transmit the virus, treatment and preventive measures. The level of using school, family and peers for obtaining information about HIV/AIDS was generally low. There was a discrepancy between the level of utilization and trust of mass media as the main source of HIV/AIDS knowledge. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for HIV/AIDS prevention and education among adolescents in China.