Laboratory technologists' attitudes towards AIDS and AIDS patients

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of laboratory staff towards AIDS and AIDS patients and related factors. The population consisted of the working-age laboratory technologists living in Finland (n = 5,973). A sample of 249 laboratory technologists was selected from the register of the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health using systematic random selection. The material was collected with a questionnaire. The younger laboratory technologists had more knowledge about AIDS than the older ones, and those who had more knowledge about AIDS had a more positive attitude than those with less knowledge. The attitudes were connected with the way the disease was contracted: the most positive attitudes were expressed towards the patients who had contracted AIDS through blood transfusion and the most negative towards the patients who had contracted AIDS from non-sterile needles. The factor analysis yielded six factors representing attitudes. The fear factor explained most (19%) of the laboratory technologists' attitudes towards AIDS and AIDS patients. The older laboratory technologists were more afraid of work-related infections than the younger ones. The laboratory technologists with adequate knowledge of AIDS were less afraid of contracting the virus than those with little knowledge. They wanted information mainly on the care of AIDS patients, on how to respond to them and on the ways AIDS is transmitted.