AIDS INFORMATION NEEDS - CONCEPTUAL AND CONTENT ANALYSES OF QUESTIONSASKED OF AIDS INFORMATION HOTLINES

Dissemination of accurate information about HIV is an essential elemen t of national AIDS prevention strategies and AIDS telephone hotlines s erve a vital function in providing such information, In this study, qu estions asked of two AIDS information hotlines were collected and exam ined to determine the AIDS information needs of the general public, Qu estions asked of local AIDS lines in Houston and Milwaukee (N = 1611) were independently classified into 30 content areas, with two independ ent raters achieving 94% agreement. The content areas were organized f or analysis into 11 broader information domains. Questions about HIV a ntibody testing were the most frequently asked (27%), followed by ques tions about sexual transmission of HIV (16%), HIV-related symptoms (16 %) and situations that do not confer risk for HIV infection (14%), Con tent analyses suggested that individuals were motivated to call hotlin es by fears of contracting HIV from actual risk behaviors or to dismis s concerns about contracting HIV through casual modes. Many individual s had information needs related to their own personal experiences that could not be addressed through media campaigns or other means of mass public health education, Results suggest that HIV information dissemi nation to the public through hotlines and other means of direct health education serves both preventive and destigmatizing functions.