A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice along- with Awareness About Medico-legal Aspects of HIV Among Medical Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Background - Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) is one of the corner stones in instituting appropriate preventive measures to fight against the STD. University students are one of the most vulnerable to infection due to lack of adequate knowledge, attitude and practice regarding the same. Materials and Methodology - This was a cross-sectional study carried out on 200 (100 male and 100 female) medical undergraduate students aged between 17–20 years of Parul University Vadodara, Gujarat. Pre-tested questionnaire was administered to the students to obtain information about their KAP on HIV. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24.0. Results- All the respondents were aware of HIV. Most of the respondents had positive views about HIV infected people. Students with good level of knowledge were more likely to display positive attitude. Although statistically not significant, we found that as knowledge increases, the ability of respondents to have positive attitude and non risky behaviour towards HIV also increases. It was found that few of them were unaware about all the medicolegal aspects of the disease. Conclusion- Students had a satisfactory level of knowledge about HIV, but had a positive attitude towards HIV patients. A person having adequate knowledge also implies engaging in safe practices. This study focuses at misconceptions which need to be corrected by reinforcing sex education in curriculum at school as well as at the university level to increase awareness. Not only to medical undergraduates, but also awareness is compulsory among the public about the medico-legal aspects of HIV.