Students’ knowledge about hiv and their attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS in the Czech Republic: analysis of the school environment and recommendations for prevention

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60162694%3AG44__%2F25%3A00563634" target="_blank" >RIV/60162694:G44__/25:00563634 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/75010330:_____/24:00014681

Result on the web

<a href="https://cejph.szu.cz/artkey/cjp-202402-0002_students-knowledge-about-hiv-and-their-attitudes-towards-people-living-with-hiv-aids-in-the-czech-republic-an.php" target="_blank" >https://cejph.szu.cz/artkey/cjp-202402-0002_students-knowledge-about-hiv-and-their-attitudes-towards-people-living-with-hiv-aids-in-the-czech-republic-an.php</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.21101/cejph.a8313" target="_blank" >10.21101/cejph.a8313</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Students’ knowledge about hiv and their attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS in the Czech Republic: analysis of the school environment and recommendations for prevention

Original language description

Objectives: The main objective of the questionnaire survey conducted by the National Institute of Public Health in Prague was to determine the level of knowledge and attitudes and to identify changes since the previous survey in 2015. A secondary objective was to gather more detailed information on how HIV/AIDS topics are taught in schools, as reported by school prevention coordinators. Methods: The questionnaire was distributed to 48 randomly selected educational institutions and the humanitarian organization MRIYA UA z.s. between October 2022 and January 2023. Data on 21 questions focusing on HIV/AIDS issues were collected anonymously from Czech and Ukrainian students. The survey included a representative sample of students from the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades in primary schools and multi-year grammar schools. Each institution received a questionnaire for the prevention coordinator, who answered 12 questions. Results: A total of 3,011 students completed the questionnaire. The average score for HIV/AIDS knowledge was 13.5 points out of a maximum of 22 points. Students' knowledge gradually increased with higher grades: students from multi-year grammar schools scored an average of 15.9 points, while primary school students scored an average of 13.2 points. Czech students scored an average of 13.6 points, whereas Ukrainian students scored an average of 12.4 points; the 1.2-point difference was statistically significant (p = 0.004). Compared to the 2015 survey, there was a slight overall decline in adolescents' knowledge levels. Students' attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS positively correlated with their knowledge about HIV/AIDS: the better their knowledge, the more favourable their attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS. Students' main sources of information about HIV/AIDS were school (37.1%) and the Internet (36.6%). According to school prevention coordinators, 95.7% of the surveyed schools address the topic of HIV/AIDS, most commonly in biology or health education classes, dedicating an average of 8.7 instructional hours to the subject. The most frequent teaching method is video lessons, used by 87.2% of the surveyed schools. Schools expressed a preference for improving the quality of education by utilizing presentations with professionally approved content, with 74.5% of schools supporting this option. Conclusions: The survey highlighted a gradual increase in HIV/AIDS knowledge with advancing school grades, a significant disparity in knowledge between Czech and Ukrainian students, and a slight overall decline in knowledge compared to 2015. The Internet and schools were the main information sources, though the role of schools declined significantly. It also underscored the need for enhanced educational programmes and continuous professional development for educators to improve health literacy and HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

30304 - Public and environmental health

Project

—

Continuities

V - Vyzkumna aktivita podporovana z jinych verejnych zdroju

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Central European Journal of Public Health

ISSN

1210-7778

e-ISSN

1803-1048

Volume of the periodical

32

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

8

Pages from-to

77-84

UT code for WoS article

001297731000002

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85199936080