Awareness and attitudes towards HIV/Aids among residents of Kandy, Sri Lanka
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19443930 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Samidi Navaratna, Samidi Nirasha Kumari Navaratna (0000-0001-8528-9891), Koji Kanda (0000-0002-0137-5360, Hokkaido University), Samath Dhamminda Dharmaratne (0000-0003-4144-2107, University of Peradeniya), Sampath Tennakoon (0000-0002-0648-614X, University of Peradeniya), Ananda Jayasinghe (0000-0002-2744-2672, University of Peradeniya), Niroshan Jayasekara (National Hospital of Sri Lanka), Katsutoshi Nagano (Hokkaido University), Yoshihide Obayashi (Hokkaido University), Asuna Arai (0000-0001-5091-0035, Hokkaido University), Hiko Tamashiro (Hokkaido University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 387-391 |
| Publication date | 2015-03-04 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | AIDS Care (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0954-0121 • E-ISSN: 1360-0451 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09540121.2014.963496 |
| PMID | 25303094 |
| OpenAlex | W2052920434 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 15 |
Currently, 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
Blame · Condom · Environmental health · Ethnic group · Family medicine · Population · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Shame · Sri lanka · Syphilis · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Epidemiology
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| Citations per year | 0.1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2016 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |