Copeland Raniyah M, Wilson Phill, Betancourt Gabriela, Garcia David, Penner Murray, Abravanel Rebecca, Wong Eric Y, Parisi Lori D
a Black AIDS Institute , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
b Latino Commission on AIDS , New York , NY , USA.
AIDS Care. 2017 Dec;29(12):1576-1584. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2017.1317323. Epub 2017 Apr 27.
Non-medical, community-based workers play a critical role in supporting people living with (or at risk of acquiring) HIV along the care continuum. The biomedical nature of promising advances in HIV prevention, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis and treatment-as-prevention, requires frontline workers to be knowledgeable about HIV science and treatment. This study was developed to: measure knowledge of HIV science and treatment within the HIV non-medical workforce, evaluate workers' familiarity with and attitudes toward recent biomedical interventions, and identify factors that may affect HIV knowledge and attitudes. A 62-question, web-based survey was completed in English or Spanish between 2012 and 2014 by 3663 US-based employees, contractors, and volunteers working in AIDS service organizations, state/local health departments, and other community-based organizations in a non-medical capacity. Survey items captured the following: respondent demographics, HIV science and treatment knowledge, and familiarity with and attitudes toward biomedical interventions. An average of 61% of HIV knowledge questions were answered correctly. Higher knowledge scores were associated with higher education levels, work at organizations that serve people living with HIV/AIDS or who are at a high risk of acquiring HIV, and longer tenure in the field. Lower knowledge scores were associated with non-Hispanic Black or Black race/ethnicity and taking the survey in Spanish. Similarly, subgroup analyses showed that respondents who were non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic (versus non-Hispanic white), as well as those located in the South (versus other regions) scored significantly lower. These subpopulations were also less familiar with and had less positive attitudes toward newer biomedical prevention interventions. Respondents who took the survey in Spanish (versus English) had lower knowledge scores and higher familiarity with, but generally less positive attitudes toward, biomedical interventions. In summary, low knowledge scores suggest the need for additional capacity-building efforts and training for non-medical HIV workers, particularly those who provide services in the communities most affected by HIV.
非医疗领域的社区工作者在为感染艾滋病毒（或有感染风险）的人群提供全程护理支持方面发挥着关键作用。艾滋病毒预防领域取得的有前景的进展，如暴露前预防和治疗即预防，其生物医学性质要求一线工作者了解艾滋病毒科学和治疗知识。本研究旨在：衡量艾滋病毒非医疗工作队伍对艾滋病毒科学和治疗的了解程度，评估工作者对近期生物医学干预措施的熟悉程度和态度，并确定可能影响艾滋病毒知识和态度的因素。2012年至2014年期间，3663名在美国艾滋病服务组织、州/地方卫生部门及其他社区组织以非医疗身份工作的员工、承包商和志愿者，用英语或西班牙语完成了一项包含62个问题的网络调查。调查项目涵盖以下方面：受访者人口统计学信息、艾滋病毒科学和治疗知识，以及对生物医学干预措施的熟悉程度和态度。艾滋病毒知识问题平均正确率为61%。知识得分较高与以下因素相关：较高的教育水平、在为艾滋病毒感染者或高感染风险人群提供服务的组织工作，以及在该领域的工作年限较长。知识得分较低与非西班牙裔黑人或黑人种族/族裔以及用西班牙语参加调查有关。同样，亚组分析显示，非西班牙裔黑人或西班牙裔受访者（与非西班牙裔白人相比），以及位于南部地区的受访者（与其他地区相比）得分显著较低。这些亚人群体对新的生物医学预防干预措施也不太熟悉，态度也不那么积极。用西班牙语参加调查的受访者（与用英语参加调查的受访者相比）知识得分较低，对生物医学干预措施的熟悉程度较高，但总体态度不太积极。总之，低知识得分表明需要对艾滋病毒非医疗工作者，特别是那些在受艾滋病毒影响最严重的社区提供服务的工作者，进行更多能力建设努力和培训。
