Umeh Chiamaka N, Essien E James, Ezedinachi Emmanuel N, Ross Michael W
WHO Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, School of Public Health, University of Texas, PO Box 20036, Houston, TX 77225, USA.
J R Soc Promot Health. 2008 Sep;128(5):233-9. doi: 10.1177/1466424008092793.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has become one of the most important public health problems in recent times and it is having a profound impact on the lives of infected people and their families. There is an acknowledged burden of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. As the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection rises, health care professionals worldwide can expect greater clinical exposure to infected patients. The care of people living with AIDS presents a significant challenge to the health care sector. This study seeks to explore the relationship between sources of HIV/AIDS information and knowledge, and the relationship between knowledge of HIV/AIDS and care for people with AIDS among health care providers in three different levels of health care institutions in the southern region of Nigeria. Health care workers from two states in southern Nigeria completed a questionnaire that was designed to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices about HIV/AIDS. The sample was composed of 277 (65%) females and 135 (31.7%) males. The results showed a fair level of knowledge among all health care professionals, with the highest level of knowledge among the doctors and the lowest among laboratory workers. There was a significant gender difference in the level of knowledge but the data suggested that knowledge did not differ by hospital settings. There were generally negative feelings and views about the care of HIV/AIDS patients among the professionals, these views being worst at the community health centers and best at the government hospital. The greatest source of information for the majority of professionals was health talks/seminars, and those respondents who got their information from school scored the highest on the items on general knowledge of HIV/AIDS incidence, cause, transmission, and clinical treatment. This has important implications for future interventions designed for health care professionals including doctors, nurses and laboratory workers.
艾滋病毒/艾滋病大流行已成为近年来最重要的公共卫生问题之一，对感染者及其家庭的生活产生了深远影响。尼日利亚存在公认的艾滋病毒/艾滋病负担。随着艾滋病毒/艾滋病感染率上升，全球医护人员预计会更多地临床接触感染患者。为艾滋病患者提供护理给医疗保健部门带来了重大挑战。本研究旨在探讨尼日利亚南部三个不同层级医疗机构的医护人员中，艾滋病毒/艾滋病信息来源与知识之间的关系，以及艾滋病毒/艾滋病知识与艾滋病患者护理之间的关系。尼日利亚南部两个州的医护人员完成了一份旨在评估艾滋病毒/艾滋病知识、态度和做法的问卷。样本包括277名（65%）女性和135名（31.7%）男性。结果显示，所有医护人员的知识水平尚可，医生的知识水平最高，实验室工作人员的知识水平最低。知识水平存在显著性别差异，但数据表明知识水平在不同医院环境中并无差异。医护人员对艾滋病患者护理普遍持负面看法，这些看法在社区卫生中心最差，在政府医院最好。大多数医护人员最大的信息来源是健康讲座/研讨会，那些从学校获取信息的受访者在艾滋病毒/艾滋病发病率、病因、传播和临床治疗等常识项目上得分最高。这对未来针对包括医生、护士和实验室工作人员在内的医护人员的干预措施具有重要意义。
