Common facts and fictions about HIV transmission, prevention and treatment among PLWHA attending a tertiary healthcare centre in North-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Objectives:The transmission, prevention, and treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are greatly influenced by human  behavioral practices. This makes knowledge of some truths (facts) and lies (fictions) about the disease extremely important in its  prevention and control. Several studies on the assessment of knowledge about HIV infection have been undertaken among the general  population, but only a few have involved people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). This study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge  and understanding on transmission, prevention, and treatment of HIV infection among PLWHA attending an adult anti- retroviral therapy (ART) clinic at Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, North-western Nigeria. Method: The study was conducted as a hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study using interviewer-administered questionnaires  among 62 patients, selected by convenience sampling technique, attending adult ART-clinic over a period of 8 weeks. The data was  analyzed using SPSS-16. Result: More than 70% of the respondents scored above 75% in the questions on modes of transmission of HIV infection. However, 73.4%  of the respondents believed HIV infection was curable, and 40.6% believed there is commercially available vaccination against HIV  infection. There were statistically significant associations between high mean scores (75% and above) in questions on modes of transmission and prevention of HIV, and being of Hausa ethnicity (p-value=0.013), having a senior secondary or higher level of education  (p-value=0.014) and being a resident in an urban setting (pvalue=0.003) Conclusion: There is a fairly good basic knowledge about HIV transmission, prevention and treatment among the respondents; however,  there is need for improvement in knowledge on certain lies/fictions regarding the disease.