Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding HIV/AIDS among University Students in Xinjiang

Objective: The aim of this paper is to assess the level of knowledge on HIV/AIDS and its risk factors, attitude towards HIV/AIDS and AIDS patients and its transmission, and to identify high risk behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS among university students in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Methodology: A cross– sectional survey was conducted among students enrolled in two universities, the Xinjiang University (XU) and Xinjiang Medical University (XMU). Data was collected using validated self-administered standardized questionnaire on knowledge, attitude and practice regarding HIV/AIDS among 200 students from XU and 200 students from XMU who agreed to participate in the study Result: Among the 400 students who participated in the study, the mean knowledge score was 19.3 +5.5 and their knowledge score ranged from 2 to 30. Two hundred and ninety eight (74.5%) students had knowledge score above 15. Mean knowledge scores were significantly higher among males (p=0.04), those who majored in medical courses (p= 0.01), those in the final year of study in university (p=0.04) and by ethnicity, among Han Chinese (p=0.00). However only 33.3% of the students had positive attitude towards HIV/AIDS and patients with HIV/AIDS. Mean attitude scores were not significantly different by sex, study major, year of study or ethnicity. With regards to high risk behaviors associated with HIV transmission, 15.8% of these students had at least one risk behavior related to unprotected sexual exposure. High-risk behavior was significantly higher among males (p=0.03) and first year students (p=0.03). Conclusion: Our study found most Xinjiang university students had good knowledge, but negative attitude towards HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS patients, and 15% of them reported having at least one high-risk behavior related to sex and unprotected sex. Thus HIV/AIDS health education efforts should be intensified to change attitude and practice among university students in Xinjiang especially among female students, newly enrolled students, and among the Uyghur and other minority students.