KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, PRACTICES AND RISK PERCEPTION TOWARDS HIV AND AIDS PREVENTION AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GWASSI SOUTH WARD, HOMA BAY COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Approximately 1.5 million people were reported to be living with Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV) infection in Kenya by 2020. The prevalence of HIV and AIDS in Homa Bay County (19.6%) is 4.5 times higher than the national average (4.6%) and the highest nationally. By 2018, young people aged 15-24 years comprised 22% of the total number of people reported to be living with HIV in the County. Suba South sub-County, with a prevalence of 20%, is among the top three sub-counties in HIV prevalence in the County. The vision of Homa Bay County is “…a County with the highest possible standards of health, free from HIV, stigma and discrimination”. However, there still exists a large proportion of young people living with HIV and AIDS in the county, and this was identified as important gap to be addressed by this study. Inadequate knowledge, negative attitudes and risky practices are major hindrances to preventing the spread of HIV. This study aimed to assess HIV-related Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAPs) of high school students in Gwassi South Ward, Suba South sub-County. Specific objectives included to determine the level of knowledge on, to establish the attitude on, to determine risk perception, to determine the practice towards HIV and AIDS prevention and to establish intervention strategies for HIV and AIDS prevention among students in secondary schools in Gwassi South Ward, Suba South sub-County. A saturated (systematic random) sample of 260 students aged 13-20 years from all the 11 secondary schools in the ward took part in KAPs crosssectional survey. Sample size was calculated based on probability proportional to size. A head teacher or health master from each of the 11 schools was purposively sampled and took part in key informants‟ interview about available strategies for HIV prevention. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 18.0. Descriptive statistics was used to assess knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception among the students in secondary schools. The mean age of the students was 17.2 (SD ±1.6), almost half (44%) were males, and 97% were Christians. Majority (64%) had moderate to high knowledge on HIV and AIDS, and: exhibited positive attitude towards HIV and AIDS (61.1%). A total 39 (15%) reported history of sexual intercourse with more than one partner six months pre-survey; 21.2% had engaged in sex without condom with non-regular sex partner; 25% had engaged in unprotected sex with someone of unknown HIV status, while 3.1% had practiced sex directly after intoxication with alcohol. There were intervention strategies on HIV and AIDS prevention among the secondary schools in Gwassi South Ward. Level of knowledge was associated with attitude towards HIV and AIDS (p<0.001) as well as likelihood of having high risk sex practices (p<0.001). Respondents with negative attitude were 4 times as likely (OR = 3.93; 95% CI, 2.31 – 6.69, p < 0.001) to express high risk sex practices as those with positive attitude toward HIV and AIDS. Knowledge and attitude of the students play a big role in their HIV risk perception as well as sex practices. Understanding knowledge, attitude, practice and intervention strategies of HIV and AIDS is significant in policy formulation by Ministries of Education, and leads to improved health-related practice by the Ministry of Health and researchers focusing on HIV and AIDS in high burden area.