Effect of Media Use on HIV/AIDS-Related Knowledge and Condom Use in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

It is known that the level of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and the degree of condom use varies by socioeconomic status (SES). However, there is limited research on the effect of mass media use on HIV/AIDS-related cognitive and behavioral outcomes in low-income countries and how it might influence the association between SES and HIV-related outcomes. We investigated the moderating effect of media use on the relationship between SES and HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and condom use in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of communication inequalities. Cross-sectional data from the Demographic Health Surveys from 13 sub-Saharan countries (2004–10) were pooled. Gender-stratified multivariable poisson regression of 151,209 women and 68,890 men were used to calculate adjusted relative ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the associations between SES, media use, HIV-related outcomes, and condom use. We found significant disparities in mass media use among people from different SES groups as well as among countries. Education and wealth are strongly and positively associated with awareness of HIV/AIDS and knowledge about transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS and are significantly associated with condom use. These associations are attenuated when the use of various types of mass media is added to the models, with newspapers showing the strongest effect. The findings of this study suggest that media use has the potential to blunt the impact of socioeconomic status though not completely eliminate it. Thus, we need to pay attention to reducing communication inequalities among social groups and countries to moderate the effect of wealth and SES on HIV/AIDS.

Does Mass-Media Public Communication Campaign Normalize Discussion, Attitude and Behavior about Condom Use among Married Men in India?

“…The similar findings are also observed among the Kenyan population in east Africa, advocating that exposure to branded messages are associated with higher personal efficacy and greater belief in condom use efficacy [33]. Moreover, the similar findings of the effect of mass-media campaign on condom usage are also reported in other studies [34][35][36][37].…”

Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas de la mujer peruana sobre la infección por VIH/SIDA

“…Resultados similares se encuentran en la literatura, siendo el nivel educativo el factor asociado a buen conocimiento mencionado con mayor frecuencia en los estudios (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)24) . Tener bajo nivel educativo se asoció con mayores niveles de actitudes estigmatizantes hacia las personas viviendo con VIH/SIDA (PVVS) (19)(20)(21)(22)(23) .…”

“…Tener bajo nivel educativo se asoció con mayores niveles de actitudes estigmatizantes hacia las personas viviendo con VIH/SIDA (PVVS) (19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . Un mejor nivel educativo se asoció con mayor uso de condón (12,14) y restricción de la actividad sexual (27,28) .…”

“…En la revisión encontramos resultados similares respecto al conocimiento (8,10,11,16) ; se reporta asociación entre creencias estigmatizantes y bajo nivel socioeconómico (20,22,23) , y a mayor nivel socioeconómico se observa mayor uso de condón y menor comportamiento sexual de riesgo (8,12,14) . Residir en zona urbana se asocia con mejor conocimiento (26,29) y actitudes adecuadas sobre el tema (29) en concordancia con nuestros hallazgos.…”

“…La información existente en la literatura indica que un mayor nivel educativo (8)(9)(10)(11)(12) , mejor nivel socioeconómico (8,9,12,13) , mayor acceso a los medios de comunicación (12,14,17) y el tener empleo (15,16) están asociados con un mejor conocimiento sobre VIH/ SIDA y en menor grado con el uso consistente de condón por parte de la pareja (12,14) .…”