IMPROVEMENT IN AIDS KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTIONS AND RISK BEHAVIORS OVER A SHORT-PERIOD IN A RURAL-COMMUNITY OF SENEGAL

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.