HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes and practices among South African military recruits

Objectives. To assess the level of HIV-related knowledge, as well as high-r isk behaviour and attitudes towards HIV, in a group of South African Nation al Defence Force (SANDF) recruits. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Tempe military base in Bloemfontein. Subjects. Three hundred and thirty-nine recruits from one company. Outcome measures, HIV-related knowledge, attitudes and practices based on a self-administered questionnaire. Results. All of the recruits were male, a nd most of them (81.4%) were black. The majority of recruits (98.5%) were b etween 18 and 24 years old. They had a good level of knowledge regarding HI V and AIDS, with more than 80% giving a correct response in most cases. How ever, several important misconceptions regarding HIV/AIDS and its transmiss ion still exist. Furthermore, several recruits still practised high-risk be haviour, such as not using condoms with casual or new partners. Most obtain ed their knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS from schools (34.8%), health and soci al services (27.1%) and the printed media (17.7%), while only 5.2% stated t hat they learnt about HIV/AIDS from the SANDF education programmes. Conclusion. Efforts towards initiating behaviour changes in military recrui ts should be intensified, and if necessary education programmes should be a dapted to facilitate achievement of this goal.