DIMENSIONS OF AIDS KNOWLEDGE AND RISKY SEXUAL PRACTICES - A STUDY OF NORTHERN THAI MALES

The relation between AIDS-related knowledge and sexual risk-taking for a sample of young men living in northern Thailand was examined. Data were collected during the fall of 1991. The sample of 1472 men include s university students, soldiers, store clerks, and laborers. Recent co mmercial sex patronage was variable among the subgroups, and consisten t condom use among these recent patrons was far from universal. Severa l important misunderstandings among our respondents regarding the AIDS virus were identified. These misconceptions were most common among me n of relatively low socioeconomic status (laborers and soldiers). Fact or analysis identified four distinct domains of AIDS knowledge among t he student and soldier groups: knowledge about the mechanics of contag ion, knowledge about the consequences of infection, knowledge about ap propriate strategies for avoiding the virus, and knowledge regarding i nappropriate strategies for avoiding the virus. In multivariate logist ic regression, knowledge about inappropriate strategies and knowledge about contagion were the only low domains predictive of recent commerc ial sex patronage: Men with a relatively good understanding regarding the inefficacy of inappropriate strategies and the mechanics of contag ion had lower odds of recent commercial sex patronage compared with me n who had a relatively poor understanding of these domains of AIDS kno wledge. In the condom use analysis, knowledge about both appropriate a nd inappropriate strategies was predictive of consistent condom use am ong recent commercial sex patrons. Thus programs should attempt to imp rove knowledge about strategies for avoiding the virus and the mechani cs of contagion. Special efforts should be made to debunk existing myt hs about the perceived effectiveness of inappropriate strategies.