%0 Journal Article
%T Knowledge, Attitude, and Preventive Practices among Prison Inmates in Ogbomoso Prison at Oyo State, South West Nigeria
%A Abdulsalam Saliu
%A Babatunde Akintunde
%J International Journal of Reproductive Medicine
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/364375
%X Prisoners are at special risk for infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) because of overcrowded prisons, unprotected sex and sexual assault, occurrence of sexual practices that are risky to health, unsafe injecting practices, and inadequate HIV prevention, care, and support services. This study aimed to describe the knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices towards HIV/AIDS by male inmates in Ogbomoso Prison at Oyo State, South West Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional study. A simple random sampling method was employed to select 167 male participants and data were collected using pretested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. The data were collated and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17. Fifty (29.9%) were in the age group 20¨C24 years with mean age of . About half (50.3%) had been married before incarceration. Family and friends (30%), health care workers (25%), prison staff (20%), and mass media (25%) were the commonest sources of information on HIV/AIDS. Knowledge about HIV was found to be high (94.6%). About 68.9% believed that people with the disease should be avoided. The knowledge about HIV/AIDS among inmates was high, but misconceptions about HIV/AIDS are still rife among the prisoners and educational programs would be required to correct this. 1. Introduction Globally, many studies on human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency disease syndrome (HIV/AIDS) have been undertaken by various government and nongovernmental organizations among the general public. There are certain high risk groups in well-defined but restricted settings who are usually left out from the interventions they deserve especially in developing countries. Inmates of prisons are example of this left out population [1]. Prisoners worldwide have a significantly higher prevalence of HIV than in the community [2, 3]. Prisoners are at a special risk for HIV infection because of overcrowded prisons, unprotected sex and sexual assault, occurrence of sexual practices that are risky to health, unsafe injecting practices, and inadequate HIV prevention, care, and support services [4]. Generally in Africa, existing data on HIV/AIDS in prison are not recent or accurate enough to provide a real picture of the current situation [5]. Of particular importance is that documentation of research studies on HIV/AIDS among prison inmates in Nigeria is very scanty and limited [5]. However, there is growing concern over the HIV status of inmates in Nigeria prisons as a report showed that there is an increase in the number of
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijrmed/2014/364375/