HIV/AIDS knowledge and uptake of HIV counselling and testing among undergraduate private university students in Accra, Ghana
Asante Reproductive Health
HIV/AIDS knowledge and uptake of HIV counselling and testing among undergraduate private university students in Accra, Ghana
Kwaku Oppong Asante 0
0 Department of Human Development and Psychology, Regent University College of Science and Technology , P. O. Box DS 1636, Dansoman, Accra , Ghana
Background: HIV Counselling and Testing (VCT) and knowledge about HIV are some key strategies in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in Ghana. However, HIV knowledge and utilization of VCT services among university students is low. The main objective was to determine the level of HIV/AIDS knowledge and to explore factors associated with the use HIV counselling and testing among private university students in Accra, Ghana. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using structured questionnaires among 324 conveniently selected students enrolled at a privately owned tertiary institution in Accra, Ghana. Results: The respondents consisted of 56.2% males and 43.8% females aged 17 - 37 years. The mean HIV/AIDS knowledge score of was 7.70. There was a significant difference in knowledge of HIV/AIDS by gender where female students had more knowledge about HIV/AIDS than males [t (322) = 2.40, p = 0.017]. The ANOVA results showed that there was a significant difference in HIV/AIDS knowledge according to the age groups [F (3, 321) = 6.26, p = 0. 0001] and marital status [F (3, 321) = 4.86, p = 0. 008] of the sample. Over half of the participants had not tested for HIV, although over 95% of them knew where to access counseling and testing services. The study also revealed a significant association between demographic variables, testing for HIV and intention to test in the future. Participants who were never married (single), aged 17 - 20 years and had knowledge of two routes of HIV transmission were more likely to have taken an HIV test. Males were more likely to take an HIV test in the future than females. Majority of the students receive HIV/AIDS information from both print and electronic media, but few of them received such information from parents. Conclusion: The students HIV knowledge was very good, yet HIV testing were low. Health education and HIV intervention programmes must not only provide accurate information, but must be made to help to equip private university students, especially females to test for HIV consistently.
HIV/AIDS; Counselling and testing; University students; Ghana
Background
The spread of HIV/AIDS among the productive age group
especially among young adults is a public health concern
in Ghana. A more serious challenge today, is the growing
infection rates among the adolescents in sub-Saharan
Africa, which has just over 10% of the world's
population, remains the most seriously affected region [
1
].
Research has shown that the highest group found to be
infected with the virus is the age-group 15 to 24 [
2
].
This adolescent high-risk group accounts for 60 percent
of all new infections in many countries [
3
]. Research in
Ghana indicates that the lifestyles of students on
university campuses are placing them at risk of contracting
the HIV [
4,5
] as the university environment has been
shown to promote sexual activity among the general
student population [
6,7
]. It is therefore not surprising
that sexual intercourse has become the most
predominant mode of transmission of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa,
accounting for approximately 90% of all infections [
1
].
Additionally, the pressure from fellow students to live
up to the standard such as buying latest mobile phones,
expensive clothes, jewelry has been shown to influence
young women to engage in transactional sex [
8,9
]. Further
research has indicated that although knowledge about a
disease is a prerequisite for change of behaviour, an
increase in knowledge about HIV does not predict
behavioural change [
10,11
]. Recent studies on HIV among
young adults in Ghana has predominantly focused on
public universities [
5
] with paucity of data on private
university students, although there are about 30 private
universities in Accra alone as indicated by the National
Accreditation Board - a regulatory agency of the Ministry
of Education that facilitates the establishment of both
public and private tertiary institutions [
12
].
According to the Ghana AIDS Commission [
13
] there
has been nearly universal awareness of HIV since 2003,
but comprehensive knowledge has been lagging behind.
The same report indicated that only 28.3% of females
aged 15–24 and 34.2% of males were able correctly
identify factual information and reject common
misconceptions [
13
]. This reflected a slight increase of
3.2% and 1.2% for females and males respectively from
the previous year. This statistics has health
implications for the formulation of policy and HIV prevention
interventions.
Access to HIV testing is considered as a cornerstone
to the strategic framework adopted by Ghana for HIV
control. As a resu (...truncated)