Association between HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Attitudes among African American Undergraduate Students in Jackson, Mississippi

Objective: This study aimed to determine HIV/AIDS knowledge level, attitudes toward individuals living with HIV/AIDS and to explore the relationship between HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes among African American undergraduates in Jackson, Mississippi.

Methods: A cross-sectional method was used in this study. A total of 400 students were randomly selected from Jackson State University undergraduate students. Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire on HIV/AIDS knowledge and their attitudes toward individuals living with HIV and AIDS.

Results: Most of the students (96.5%) had good knowledge about HIV/AIDS, while some students had some misconceptions about HIV infection transmission. There was no significant difference between male and female students on HIV/AIDS knowledge in this study (χ2 = 3.05; P = 0.08). Most of the study participants (87.8%) showed positive attitudes toward individuals living with HIV/AIDS. However, there were some negative attitudes toward individuals living with HIV/AIDS among participants of this study. Male participants expressed more negative attitudes compared to female participants (19.1% vs. 8.5%, χ2 = 9.6; P < 0.002). HIV/AIDS knowledge was significantly associated with positive attitudes toward people living with the disease (p= 0.019, Pearson’s χ2 = 7.431).

Conclusions: In general, we concluded that most students (96.5%) in this study demonstrated high levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge and positive attitudes (87.8%). There was an association between knowledge of the disease and positive attitudes toward HIV/AIDS patients. However, there were HIV/AIDS knowledge gaps, misconceptions, and intolerant attitudes toward HIV positive patients also identified in this study. Hence, this study calls for more robust and age-appropriate HIV/AIDS awareness education programs geared towards reducing the impacts of negative attitudes toward individuals living with the disease, eliminating the gaps in HIV/AIDS knowledge and misconceptions identified in this study.