Education-based needs assessment: a step toward effective prevention of AIDS

Background: The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is dramatically increasing worldwide. Iran and the other Middle East countries have also encountered this increasing pattern. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the educational needs of Bandar-Abbas people about HIV/AIDS. Methods: This descriptive analytical research was carried out on a sample population of 2123 persons who were randomly recruited for the study in 2003. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and the information resource for HIV/Aids were assessed through interviews. Findings: Our data showed that people had a good level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, however no positive attitude toward this disease was observed. There was a relationship between age and the knowledge on transmission routes (P=0.03, r=0.65). Also, a significant correlation between education and the knowledge on different ways of transmission was demonstrated. No significant relationship between sex and the knowledge was established. Approximately, 40% of people were shown to have high level of self-efficacy in preventing the disease. Regarding the perceived severity, 48.7% believed that HIV/AIDS causes the patients to become weak and 34.7% thought that HIV/AIDS can expose people to other diseases. Most people described that their information on HIV/AIDS was obtained through mass media. Conclusion: Promoting the level of social health is in close association with publicizing the level of knowledge among people and correcting their attitudes toward the disease. This topic should be highlighted in health promoting educational programs.