Abstract

The under-reporting of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a serious health and development challenge across the globe, is mainly due to societal stigma, inadequate surveillance, voluntary counseling, testing systems, and lack of knowledge among the general population and health practitioners. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and beliefs of Pakistani University population regarding human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome. A total of 1300 questionnaire were administered and 1043 were received, with a response rate of 80.2 %. There was preponderance of males (66.5 %), undergraduates (87.7 %) and 21-25 years age group (60.9 %). The mean human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome knowledge score was 18.81±5.34 and majority (72.1 %) of the participants was found to have adequate knowledge (knowledge score >15) of the disease. The mean attitude score was 3.71±1.61 and majority of the participants in this study had positive attitude (attitude score ≥4) towards human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The positive predictors of adequate human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome knowledge were female gender, medical/pharmacy education and Muslims. The significant predictors of positive attitude towards human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome were found to be female gender and medical/pharmacy education. The results of the present study indicate that Pakistani University population has adequate human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome knowledge as well as positive attitudes. However, some serious misconceptions need to be addressed.