Objective To explore HIV/AIDS -related knowledge and behaviors among sexually transmitted disease(STD)outpatients in China CAREsites of Anhui province, and inform future interventions
Methods STDoutpatients were drawn from STDclinics of health institutions in 7 China CAREsite counties in Anhui province using randomized clustersampling, and interviewed by trained local CDC staff using structured questionnaire.
Results Atotal of 952 patients were interviewed accounting for a response rate of 95.2%.Their responses to HIV/AIDS -related knowledge questions were 77.8% correct.The percentage of correct answers about transmission routes, prevention methods and non-transmission were 83.0%, 76.1% and 74.1% respectively.Male and younger respondents were better educated than female and elder ones.Of the 952 patients, 27.5% had extra-marital sex in the recent three months.48.7% of them had never used condom during extra-marital sex, and only 3.8% of them had been using condoms every time.
Conclusion STDpatients in rural Anhui are well educated about HIV/AIDS -related knowledge in general.However, female and elder patients are relatively less educated about HIV/AIDS.The patients' frequency of condom use is very low.These indicate that future intervention should be tailored to STDpatients' educational needs and stress behavior change, especially for female and elder patients.