Effects of a health education intervention on nurses’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS in Cairo University, Egypt

Abstract

Information education and communication (IEC) programs are the most effective available approaches for 
combating the HIV pandemic especially among nurses. The aim of this study is to assess knowledge, 
perceptions and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS before and after an IEC intervention program. The study used a 
prospective interventional design that was conducted on two different nursing groups: post-graduate nursing 
staff (67 nurses) and undergraduate nursing students (73 students). A significant improvement in the general 
knowledge and perceptions score was observed (from 7.29  1.2 to 8.01  1.5 with P <0.001). The intervention 
also succeeded to improve the mode of transmission knowledge score significantly from 6.83  0.9 to 7.21  0.8 
(P <0.001). Furthermore, the intervention significantly improved the prevention knowledge score. The main 
source of information was television (66.7%). Although favorable attitudes increased after the intervention it did 
not reach the desired level. A planned HIV/AIDS education program significantly improved the HIV/AIDS 
knowledge, and to a lesser extent the perceptions and attitudes toward patients with HIV/AIDS. Further 
structured education should be conducted emphasising the role of mass media.