Factors associated with possessing the knowledge of HIV/AIDS - A case study based on ever married women in the reproductive age in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is not a notifiable condition in Sri Lanka. Moreover, HIV case reporting represents only a fraction of HIV infected people in the country as many infected persons may perhaps not be aware of their HIV status. Therefore, having a good level of knowledge about HIV largely contribute to preventing HIV prevalence in the country. In this study, we aim to identify the factors that are associated with possessing the knowledge of HIV/AIDS spread among ever married women in the reproductive age (15-49) in Sri Lanka. This will be particularly useful for authorities who organize awareness programs to identify various socio-economic as well as geographic subgroups who are lacking knowledge of HIV/AIDS spread. We used secondary data from the 2016 Sri Lanka Demographic and Health Survey that was conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics in Sri Lanka. Separate Binary logistic methods were utilized as methods of model building for six response variables which represent the answers to the following statements: people can get HIV from mosquito bites, a healthylooking person can be infected with HIV, children infected with HIV should not be allowed to study in the same school with healthy children, someone can get HIV by sharing food with an HIV infected person, someone can reduce the risk of getting HIV by having sex with one uninfected partner, and someone can reduce the risk of getting HIV by using a condom every time they have sex. Respondents’ province, highest education qualification, frequency of watching television, frequency of reading newspapers, frequency of listening to the radio, religion, age group, and wealth index were found to have a significant effect on possessing the knowledge of HIV/AIDS spread among ever married women in reproductive age in Sri Lanka. Respondent’s answers regarding the knowledge about the HIV/AIDS based on the above factors are likely to be correlated and this correlation was not considered in the analysis. For future study, we recommend the application of a generalized linear mixed model approach for the analysis.