Medical student attitudes towards HIV

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine medical student attitudes towards HIV-related issues, to examine if the following student factors can affect attitudes: gender, perception of HIV infectivity, exposure to an HIV+ individual, career intent and attending a clinical attachment. A self-administered questionnaire was given to students at the beginning and end of a clinical attachment. Of the 240 questionnaires handed out at the beginning of the attachment, 183 (76%) were completed. Students generally expressed positive attitudes towards people with HIV. Female students and individuals who had considered working in a related specialty or had met an HIV+ person expressed more patient-centred attitudes in some of their responses. Following the course, 72 questionnaires were returned. Responses to several of the attitudinal statements had changed significantly. Medical students generally have enlightened attitudes towards HIV-related issues, which may be affected by student factors and attending a clinical attachment.

Pharmacy Student Attitudes and Willingness to Engage in Care with People Living with HIV/AIDS

“…It is interesting to note that several manuscripts reported students from different professions having negative general attitudes but also positive specific attitudes toward caring for PLWHA. 16,[21][22][23] Thus, students in the health professions seem to have a generalized concern for PLWHA. However, it seems that empathy in itself does not mean a student will have fewer negative attitudes toward PLWHA and discomforts in personal contact with those who have HIV/AIDS.…”

“…1,12,13 These scales were revised to adjust for language and phrasing to be less restrictive to AIDS and consider more broadly HIV, maximize student understanding of questions, limit social desirability bias, and attempt to elicit more subtle stigmatizing attitudes. For example, previously validated scales from the 1980s used "AIDS" and were developed prior to effective antiretroviral therapy.…”

“…10 Shifts in attitudes and knowledge among health professions students toward PLWHA may have occurred as a result of improvements in antiretroviral therapy and how such therapy has led to substantial reductions in morbidity, mortality, and transmission of HIV infection. 9,10,12,13 However, to explore these shifts more closely, there is need to ensure measures are consistent with current language (ie, removing language specifying only AIDS and including persons living with HIV) and avoid as much as possible social desirability bias (ie, tendency to respond in a more favorable way to researchers). Further, to examine attitudinal and behavioral shifts, it is important to develop theoretical models for how factors contribute to the formation of the attitudes and behaviors.…”

“…For example, we know from prior work that age and HIV knowledge are associated with negative attitudes toward PLWHA. [8][9][10][13][14][15][16] However, no known multivariate models control for multiple factors contributing to negative attitudes or explore how background variables, HIV knowledge, and different attitudes relate to student willingness to care for PLWHA. Prior research did not attempt to differentiate between professional and personal attitudes toward PLWHA or how professional attitudes and empathy relate to willingness to provide care to PLWHA.…”

Ecuador Health Professionals Perceived Knowledge and Beliefs About HIV and the Use of Standard Precautions A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Research Study

“…The HIV Health Belief Scale includes 6 items regarding perceived susceptibility (1-6), 12 questions about perceived seriousness (7-18), 6 questions pertaining to perceived benefits (19-24), 9 questions related to perceived barriers (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33), and 7 questions related to perceived health motivation (34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40). In addition, 7 questions adapted from Horan et al (1998) for the concept of perceived self efficacy (41-47).…”