Fares Samar, Batarseh Suhel F, Soliman Saeed
Family Medicine Department, Kasr Alainy Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt.
Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Womens Health (Lond). 2025 Jan-Dec;21:17455057251375825. doi: 10.1177/17455057251375825. Epub 2025 Sep 28.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains one of the biggest health challenges facing the world, with approximately 39 million people reported to be living with the virus. Despite low prevalence rates in the Middle East and North Africa region, Jordan faces a growing trend of new infections driven by factors such as refugees, migration, and socioeconomic status. Premarital examination is a requirement for Jordanian couples to get married and would play a role in sexually transmitted disease (STD) awareness and prevention, including HIV.
The purpose of this research is to assess the impact of premarital examinations on HIV knowledge, attitudes, and stigma in ever-married women aged 15-49 in Jordan.
Cross-sectional design.
Data were retrieved from the most recent Jordan Population and Family Health Survey, a nationally representative survey of health dynamics. Premarital examinations and comprehensive HIV knowledge were assessed by survey modules covering history of premarital examination and tests performed and respondents' understanding of HIV transmission and prevention. Participants were categorized based on their responses to five key statements about HIV/AIDS.
In this study, there were 14,689 respondents. The mean age (±SD) of the participants was 34.5 (±8.5) years. Most of them (92%) were currently married. More than half of the respondents underwent premarital medical checkups. However, discriminatory attitudes toward people living with HIV were high among respondents. Only 8.7% of the respondents showed adequate comprehensive HIV knowledge; their level of understanding regarding modes of transmission and misconceptions about prevention also varied. The adjusted model showed that there was no significant difference in HIV knowledge between those who had a premarital exam and those who had not. However, higher education levels were associated with better HIV knowledge.
The findings indicate that the level of HIV knowledge among Jordanian women is poor and was not associated with undergoing premarital examination and counseling. This suggests redesigning the mandatory premarital examination and counseling to have stronger STDs and HIV awareness and prevention components. This change may improve knowledge and encourage safer health behaviors, thus helping to combat stigma and misinformed views about HIV in Jordan.
人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）仍然是世界面临的最大健康挑战之一，据报告约有3900万人感染该病毒。尽管中东和北非地区的感染率较低，但约旦面临着由难民、移民和社会经济地位等因素导致的新感染病例不断增加的趋势。婚前检查是约旦夫妇结婚的一项要求，并且在性传播疾病（STD）的认知和预防（包括HIV）方面将发挥作用。
本研究的目的是评估婚前检查对约旦15至49岁已婚妇女的HIV知识、态度和污名化的影响。
横断面设计。
数据取自最近的约旦人口与家庭健康调查，这是一项关于健康动态的全国代表性调查。婚前检查和全面的HIV知识通过涵盖婚前检查历史和所进行的检测以及受访者对HIV传播和预防的理解的调查模块进行评估。参与者根据他们对关于HIV/AIDS的五个关键陈述的回答进行分类。
在本研究中，有14689名受访者。参与者的平均年龄（±标准差）为34.5（±8.5）岁。他们中的大多数（92%）目前已婚。超过一半的受访者接受了婚前医学检查。然而，受访者中对HIV感染者的歧视态度很高。只有8.7%的受访者表现出足够的全面HIV知识；他们对传播方式的理解水平以及对预防的误解也各不相同。调整后的模型显示，进行过婚前检查的人和未进行过婚前检查的人在HIV知识方面没有显著差异。然而，较高的教育水平与更好的HIV知识相关。
研究结果表明，约旦妇女的HIV知识水平较差，并且与接受婚前检查和咨询无关。这表明需要重新设计强制性的婚前检查和咨询，使其具有更强的性传播疾病和HIV认知及预防内容。这一改变可能会提高知识水平并鼓励更安全的健康行为，从而有助于消除约旦对HIV的污名化和错误观念。
