CHARACTERISTICS OF RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS, HIV AND AIDS KNOWLEDGE, ANDRISK PERCEPTION AMONG YOUNG MALES IN SOUTHWEST CHINA

A cross-sectional survey was undertaken to describe risk-taking behavi ors and to assess the knowledge and risk perception of HIV and AIDS am ong young males aged 18 to 29 years in 82 villages in Longchuan, Yunna n, China, in 1994. Information on demographic, behavioral, and drug-us ing factors, and knowledge of HIV transmission and prevention, and ris k perception was collected using an interviewer-administered anonymous questionnaire. A total of 1,548 individuals were interviewed and 433 drug users, including 52 nonsharing injectors and 140 sharing injector s, were identified. Over half the individuals scored 0 on HIV knowledg e, but knowledge was greater among nonsharing drug injectors, Most dru g injectors had initiated drug injection after 1990. The reported inci dence continues to increase in all three major ethnic groups. Sharing of equipment was common (73%) among injectors. Drug users were four ti mes more likely to have had premarital or extramarital sex, but condom s were used by only 2.5%. Thus, factors promoting spreading of HIV are common in this area. We recommend that a community-based intervention program, targeting both young men and women, be implemented and evalu ated in Longchuan as soon as possible.