E. Lagarde et al., IMPROVEMENT IN AIDS KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTIONS AND RISK BEHAVIORS OVER A SHORT-PERIOD IN A RURAL-COMMUNITY OF SENEGAL, International journal of STD & AIDS, 8(11), 1997, pp. 681-687
The objective of this paper is to assess knowledge, perceptions and be
havioural changes in response to AIDS in a rural community in the sout
h of Senegal, comparing 2 cross-sectional surveys using standardized q
uestionnaires and performed in 1990-1992 and 1994. An AIDS-related kno
wledge score was built using 4 questions about routes of HIV transmiss
ion, ranging from 0 to 4. The score increased between the 2 surveys fr
om 1.6 to 2.1 for men (P=0.006) and from 0.8 to 2.6 for women (P<10(-4
)). The proportion of those who responded 'I don't know' to the 4 ques
tions dealing with routes of AIDS transmission decreased from 24% to 1
4% on the average for men and from 66% to 20% on the average for women
. The proportion of men who declared casual sex partners in the past 1
2 months decreased from 39% to 21% (P=0.01). However, the proportion r
emained stable for women (from 15% to 18%). These results show that de
spite a relatively low level of HIV infection (0.8% of all adults), AI
DS-related knowledge increased and at-risk behaviour decreased in a ru
ral area of west Africa.