Knowledge and attitude of health professional students toward patients living with AIDS

What health professional students know of AIDS and their attitudes towards PLWA enrich our knowledge in assuring quality of care administered to AIDS patients.

This study was designed to assess 1) What Nigerian students in various health disciplines know about AIDS and how they behave towards PLWA. and 2) Determine the sociodemographic variables that could influence knowledge of AIDS and behaviour towards PLWA among students of the various health disciplines in a university in North- Eastern Nigeria.

This cross-sectional study involving student volunteers (n=644) in the last two years of their professional training drawn from six disciplines were surveyed using a two-part questionnaire. Section I of which elicited students' sociodemographic and previous AIDS encounter information, and section II assessed knowledge and behaviour towards PLWA.

Students in surveyed health professions had an unsatisfactory level of knowledge on AIDS pathophysiology and their behaviour towards PLWA was negative. Gender, clinical year, religious affiliation, discipline, level of satisfaction with AIDS instructions, knowing a family member or another person with a diagnosis of AIDS and willingness to provide care for an AIDS patient influenced the students' knowledge and behaviour.

The study revealed a real possibility for health professional students to hesitate to care for PLWA, or render uncoordinated or fragmented care at the time of their graduation. It suggests the need for intervention to include methodical and all inclusive clinical clerkship on HIV/AIDS and small group discussions with real life case scenerios involving PLWA while in training.