Assessment of a Group of Dokuz Eylül University Fine Arts Students' Knowledge and Attitudes about Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome*
Ozan ÇETİN*, Oğuz Reşat SİPAHİ*, Serkan AKHAN*, Burcu ÇAKAR*, Ebru Nevin ŞENGÜL*, Tunay ATAMAN*, Ekrem DEVSEREN*, Fatma ERBOY*
Many campaigns are held against AIDS, which is called as the "Plague of the New Age". At the same time many studies are organized to assess the knowledge levels of people from different levels of the society, to help to evaluate the efficiencies of these campaignes, educational seminaries, conferences and other similar activities. These studies also help to the creation of new ideas for future methods. We as Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine-Club Against Infectious Diseases and Substance Abuse-Subgroup of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, performed a public survey to our University's Faculty of Fine Arts students for evaluating their knowlwdge about AIDS, before an educational panel we held about AIDS. Our poll was based on the AIDS informing poll of the Turkish Association of Struggling Against AIDS. Totally 67 people attended to our survey. 42 (62,7%) of them were female, 25 (37,3%) were male. Mean of their ages was 21,71 (maximium 40, minimum 17). While 31 (46,34%) of all attendants thought that their knowledge about AIDS was adequate, 6 had no idea abut the adequacy of their knowlwdge level. All students stated that there was virus in the blood, 64 (95,3%) in the ejeculate, 56 (83,6%) in the vaginal fluid, 29 (45,9%) in the mother's milk, 3 in the perspiration fluid, 2 in the tears of the HIV(+) patients.62 (92,5%) students stated that they had gained their knowledge about AIDS from the media, 21 from their friends, 3 from lectures they had taken during their education. 43 (64,2%) of all students found the "AIDS has no treatment." statement true, 13 had no idea. The statement "Two HIV+ patients must use condom during sexual intercourse" was true according to 20 (29,9%) students, 12 found it false, 35 (52,2%) had no idea. 52 students stated that it was false to separate the AIDS patients from the general population. 18 students stated that HIV could be transmitted by fly bites. These findings suggest that the media has an important role in AIDS awareness campaignes. Turkish education system has important defects in such an important subject like AIDS. The educational seminaries given to the people from about different parts of the society must be more frequent and for the poor people, who are diffucult to reach, the present educational system has to be used more efficiently.
*This is the original
abstract of our poster, presented in the 4th Turkish National
AIDS and STDs Symposium, and has been published in the AIDS
Dergisi, 1998, 10: 42 as whole abstract.
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