Sweat M D, Levin M
Department of Sociology, Emory University, USA.
AIDS Educ Prev. 1995 Aug;7(4):355-72.
This analysis examines knowledge of HIV and AIDS among 71,370 persons interviewed in a national sample of the U.S. population. Factor analysis of 26 questions about HIV infection and AIDS identified four distinct dimensions of AIDS knowledge: 1) transmission mechanisms; 2) commonly known nontechnical information; 3) definitions of AIDS; and 4) technical information. Significant differences across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and demographic groups exist for each dimension of AIDS knowledge. In general, racial minorities and those with lower socioeconomic status are shown to have lower knowledge levels. Exposure to mass media about AIDS, and knowing a person with HIV or AIDS, are also strong predictors of increased knowledge. Multivariate analysis demonstrates 1) that socioeconomic status is a better predictor of knowledge of AIDS than race or ethnicity; and 2) exposure to AIDS mass media has the strongest effect on all dimensions of AIDS knowledge except for knowledge of technical issues about AIDS. Policy implications of these results are discussed.
该分析调查了美国全国人口样本中接受访谈的71370人的艾滋病毒和艾滋病知识。对26个关于艾滋病毒感染和艾滋病的问题进行因子分析，确定了艾滋病知识的四个不同维度：1）传播机制；2）广为人知的非专业信息；3）艾滋病的定义；4）专业信息。艾滋病知识的每个维度在种族、族裔、社会经济和人口群体之间都存在显著差异。总体而言，少数族裔和社会经济地位较低的人知识水平较低。接触有关艾滋病的大众媒体以及认识艾滋病毒感染者或艾滋病患者，也是知识增加的有力预测因素。多变量分析表明：1）社会经济地位比种族或族裔更能预测艾滋病知识；2）接触艾滋病大众媒体对艾滋病知识的所有维度影响最大，但关于艾滋病技术问题的知识除外。文中讨论了这些结果的政策含义。
