Knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS among Iranian students

Through a cluster-sampling, 4641 students from 52 high schools in Tehran were assessed by anonymous questionnaires in February 2002.The students identified television as their most important source of information about AIDS. Only a few students answered all the knowledge questions correctly, and there were many misconceptions about the routes of transmission. Mosquito bites (33%), public swimming pools (21%), and public toilets (20%) were incorrectly identified as routes of transmission. 46% believed that Human Immunodeficiency Virus positive (HIV positive) students should not attend ordinary schools. Most of the students wanted to know more about AIDS. In this study knowledge level was associated with students' attitudes and discipline (p < 0.001).Although the knowledge level seems to be moderately high, misconceptions about the routes of transmission were common. There was a substantial intolerant attitude towards AIDS and HIV positive patients. We recommend that strategies for AIDS risk reduction in adolescents be developed in Iranian high schools.The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic is in its third decade and has become a pandemic disease that threatens the world population. It affects all body systems as well as the mental health and social relationships of carriers and asymptomatic patients.In Iran the first case of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was reported in 1987. This was followed by a rapid increase in the number of cases. In 2003, officially there were 5086 Iranians living with HIV/AIDS, of which, 4838 were male and 248 were female. According to official data in Iran, 67% of AIDS patients are intravenous drug users and 9% were infected by sexual contact. There are some 17% of cases grouped under "unspecified" route of transmission. It is feared that the HIV/AIDS situation in Iran may be more serious than these published data indicate, and the main concern is the potential spread of infection from injecting drug users to the general