Knowledge and Attitudes of University Students on the Problematic HIV / AIDS

Abstract

Introduction: the Human Immunodeficiency Virus attacks the immune system and weakens the surveillance and defense systems in a short period of time, without timely treatment. People who have more knowledge about the disease, have favorable interest rates and in this way take attitudes to avoid contracting the infection. For this reason, we set out to investigate the knowledge and attitudes about HIV / AIDS in students of different careers at the National University of the Northeast. Methodology: Observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study, which included students from 4th to 6th year of the Medicine and Law Careers of the National University of the Northeast. The data were obtained through an ad hoc survey, sent via WhatsApp, later the data was uploaded into an Excel 2007 spreadsheet and were analyzed with SPPS V25. Results: A total of 180 completed surveys were analyzed, 59.4% belonged to medical students and 40.6% to law students. The mean age was 24.6 ± 4 years. 98.3% have heard or read about the subject at some time and 60% of both careers find out about the subject through their friends. Most consider that the use of condoms protects the transmission of HIV. Conclusion: A good level of knowledge was observed. However, it would be interesting to expand the study population to reach a greater number of students and in this way each individual can carry out a self-assessment on their knowledge of HIV / AIDS.