ATTITUDE AND KNOWLEDGE OF HIGH-SCHOOL PUPILS IN HOLON (ISRAEL) TOWARDAIDS

The study was designed to test the knowledge and attitude of pupils in three high schools with respect to AIDS. The 412 pupils who participa ted in the study represented three different educational institutions: an academic level school, a traditional religious school, and a vocat ional trade school. The standard of knowledge was found to be relative ly lacking (67-75%), and there were significant differences between th e three schools (P<0.00001). There were many misconceptions concerning the symptomatology of the disease, its chronology and its prognosis. Boys were better informed than girls (P<0.0225), and with age, the pup ils' knowledge improved (P<0.001). There were, however, no differences in the severity of the pupils' attitude towards the disease in any of the three schools (P<0.00001). Attitudes regarding expulsion of AIDS patients from school, and moral and financial assistance varied from s chool to school. A most consistent factor was that pupils acquired the ir knowledge from the media (TV 94.66%, newspapers 89.81%), and that t he medical profession contributed very little to the pupils' understan ding of the disease (22.09%). Most of the pupils (92.9%) requested tha t prevention of this disease be incorporated as a subject into the for mal teaching program of the school.