Evaluation of knowledge & awareness of medical students on HIV/AIDS before and after teaching curriculum

  • Dr. M. Bharathi M.D. Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, RIMS Medical College, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Dr. B. Naga Srilatha Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, RIMS Medical College, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Dr. M. Sasidhar M.D. Professor, Department of Microbiology, RIMS Medical College, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Dr. A. Sasikala M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, RIMS Medical College, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India
Keywords: Curriculum, Medical Students, HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Introduction: The HIV/AIDS pandemic has become one of the most important public health problems in recent times. India has the 3rd highest number of estimated people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in the world. It is an urgent necessity that the doctors of tomorrow are prepared to deal with the many outcomes of the spread of HIV infection in the community. WHO strongly recommends the incorporation of knowledge of HIV/AIDS in medical syllabus starting from the 1styear.

Methods: A Prospective study was conducted to assess the knowledge and awareness of medical students and effectiveness of curriculum on HIV/AIDS at RIMS Medical College, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh in July and September 2015. 150 students of 4th semester were included after taking their consent. A questionnaire having 30 items of closed ended except three and subjective items were administered. Base line knowledge was assessed by pretest evaluation. Post-test evaluation was done two months after teaching curriculum for two hours.

Results: The knowledge of students after teaching curriculum regarding HIV/AIDS was high in all aspects when compared to pre intervention.

Conclusions: Awareness of students on HIV/AIDS was improved in post-intervention assessment.1. Few students (11/150) only knew about p 24 antigen. 2. Students’ knowledge about vertical transmission and non-modes of transmission of HIV still needs intervention. 3. Regarding vulnerable groups, symptoms and testing strategies – their awareness was poor.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Chiamaka N. Umeh, E. James Essien, Emmanuel N. Ezedinachi, and Michael W. Ross, “Knowledge, Beliefs and Attitudes about HIV/AIDS related issues, and the Sources of Knowledge among Health Care Professionals in Southern Nigeria.” J R Soc Promot Health. 2008 Sep; 128(5): 233–239. (HHS public access available in PMC 2008 oct 7; PMCID: PMC 2562902; NIHMSID: NIHMS 7286).

2. Farah D Shaikh, Shahzad A. Khan, Michael W. Ross and Richard M. Grimes “Knowledge and attitudes of Pakistani medical students towards HIV-positive and/or AIDS patients” Psychology, Health & Medicine, January 2007; 12(1): 7 – 17.

3. NACO Annual Report 2013-14 (30-6-14): India’s voice against AIDS, Dept. of AIDS control, Ministry of H&FW, GOI.

4. SandheepSugathan and Mohammed Swaysi. Knowledge about HIV/AIDS among Premedical Students in Misurata, Libya and the Effectiveness of a Health Education Intervention. Community Medicine & Health Education, 2012; 2 (10 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2161-0711.1000187.

5. Teaching HIV/AIDS in Medical Schools by WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, New Delhi 1999; page 1-49.

6. Abhimanyu Singh Chauhan, Dr.Mohammad Akhtar Hussain, Dr. SangamitraPati, Srinivas Nallala, Jayanti Mishra. Knowledge and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS among medical and allied health sciences students. Indian Journal of Communiy Health 2011; 23 (2):96-98.

7. Shankar PR, Subish P, Paudel R, Alam K. PERCEPTION AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIV/AIDS AMONG STUDENTS IN A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN WESTERN NEPAL. SAARC J.TUBER. LUNG DIS.HIV/AIDS, 2009; VI (2): pp 11-16.

8. Dr. Harshad Patel, Dr. Ashish Nayak, Dr. Naresh Chauhan, Dr. DharmendraJankar, Dr. DevangRaval, Dr. M.P.Singh. “Evaluation Of Pre Test And Post Test Knowledge After Intensive ICTC Team Training Among Health Care Workers In Bhavnagar District” NJIRM 2013; 4(6) : 84-87.

9. Michael Platten, Ha N Pham and Huy V Nguyen, “Knowledge of HIV and factors associated with attitudes towards HIV among final-year medical students at Hanoi medical university in Vietnam” BMC Public Health 2014, 14:265 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-265.

10. Sameer Valsangkar, Trupti N Bodhare, Shripad B Pande,1 Samir D Bele, and B Sitarama Rao, “Evaluation of Knowledge Among Interns in a Medical College Regarding Palliative Care in People Living with HIV/AIDS and the Impact of a Structured Intervention”, Indian J Palliat Care. 2011 Jan-Apr; 17(1): 6–10.

11. Sanjay Kini, Sneha D Mallya, Veena G Kamath, Asha Kamath, AmbikaCoondoo, KarthikVasudevanIyer, Sujayendra D Murali “Knowledge and Attitude about HIV/AIDS among medical students in a private medical college in costal Karnataka” Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health, 2014; 3(2):1-5.

12. Dr. Shikha Trivedi. HIV/AIDS Awareness level in Secondary Schools of India after twenty seven years. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, March 2014;19(3):ver2:pp 71-75.

13. Bharathi.M, Radha.M “ Awareness and Knowledge of Adolescent girl Students from a Government High school for girls on HIV/AIDS” J Pharm Biomed Sci 2015; 05 (05): 408-414.

14. L. Cherian, LS Maphoso, “Measurement of the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS intervention programme on knowledge, attitudes and behavior of the South African Polise service employees” , Curationis, Dec 2009; 32(4):4-18.

15. Angella Musiimenta, “A controlled pre – post evaluation of a computer based HIV/AIDS education on students’ sexual behavior, knowledge and attitudes” Online journal of public health informatics, 2012; 4(1): ojphi- vil.4017.
CITATION
DOI: 10.17511/ijmrr.2015.i9.191
Published: 2015-10-31
How to Cite
1.
Bharathi M, Srilatha BN, M. S, A. S. Evaluation of knowledge & awareness of medical students on HIV/AIDS before and after teaching curriculum. Int J Med Res Rev [Internet]. 2015Oct.31 [cited 2024Dec.23];3(9):1042-8. Available from: https://ijmrr.medresearch.in/index.php/ijmrr/article/view/362
Section
Original Article