Influence of personal characteristics on the knowledge and attitude of Pamol plantation workers towards HIV/AIDS in the Southwest Region Cameroon

Abstract

This study assessed the influence of personal characteristics on knowledge and attitude of Pamol 
plantation workers (n = 75) towards HIV/AIDS in Southwest Region of Cameroon. The percentage of 
workers with correct knowledge on the etiology/transmission, symptoms and prevention of HIV/AIDS 
and positive attitude towards HIV/AIDS was determined. Knowledge indices on etiology/transmission 
(KIET), symptoms (KIS) and prevention (KIP) of HIV/AIDS and attitude indices (AI) of the various age 
groups, marital status, educational level, religious groups, sex, migration status and rank of the 
workers were constructed. Regression analysis, Analysis of Variance and Students t-test were used to 
analyze the data. None of the personal characteristics of the workers had any significant (p>0.05) 
influence on their knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS. However, the mean KIET of supervisory 
workers (16.75) was significantly different (p<0.05) from that of their hourly rated counterparts (15.78). 
The mean AI of respondents in the supervisory category (14.46) was higher than those of the hourly 
rated category (12.35). Despite the existence of HIV/AIDS programmes in the plantation workers, 
HIV/AIDS stigmatization was still present. This stigmatization would have a negative impact on the 
productivity of affected workers. Hence, intervention programmes aimed at eliminating stigmatization 
among the workers should be pursued.