Attitude towards AIDS and Knowledge Assessment in AlAhsa Community

Attitude Toward AIDS and Knowledge Assessment in AlAhsa Community Mahdi M. Almuhanna, Ahmed R. Alfarhan, Hamza N. Almohammed ali, Abdulkhalig H. Almohammed ali, Ali H. Al-Dhamen, Mohammed A. Aldajani, Ammar J. Albagshe, Hussain M. Alkhadrawi, Jellilah A. Alnajjar, Nasser A. Albahrani, Ayat A. Al Hariz, Musaab I. AlHawas, Eissa S. Alousi, Sayed Ibrahim Ali Introduction AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome) is an epidemic disease worldwide. Mortality rate of AIDS is 1.5 million. In order to decrease the spread of AIDS, many countries are going to increase the awareness. There are very few studies evaluates awareness of AIDS in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to evaluate the awareness and attitude toward AIDS in AlAhsa, Saudi Arabia. Method Self-administrated questionnaires have been distributed to visitors of 30 Primary health care centers randomly chosen in AlAhsa.1st part of questionnaire was asking about demographic data.2nd part was containing special form which prepared previously and modified to be applicable in Saudi Arabia. Results 609 respondents by mean age 29 years (Response rate almost 100%).82.8% of participants have good knowledge. No different in knowledge between male and female (p-value =1.000), even between city and village residents (P-Value=.442). married people have good knowledge more than single (P-Value =.000). primary school educational level are worse knowledge and people with master degree and high are the best. Participants who work in medical field have good knowledge more than the others. Conclusion We can say that the level of knowledge of AIDS is very good in AlAhsa. Most of participants are afraid from getting AIDS. They are believed that Chasity can protect from AIDS. They can't decide whether AIDS is a problem in Saudi Arabia or not.