Peer education vs health provider education in knowledge and attitude about prevention and transmission of AIDS in high school students
Abbaspour, Z.; Saidian, M.; Abedi, P.
Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences 23(1): 108-110
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 1682-024X Document Number: 554113
Objective: To compare the knowledge and attitudes of high school students who have thought about prevention and transmission of AIDS by peer group and health provider. Design: This is an experimental study carried out on 417 students from six urban schools in Kerman, Iran. Group 1 (n=212) received peer education, and group 2 (n=205) experiences health education. Setting: Both groups were surveyed at three times: pre intervention and post intervention immediately after four and 6 weeks after the first post test. For both the groups eight sessions were organized about AIDS in 4 weeks. Every session lasted 30 minutes. Main Outcome Measures: Independent sample t test and repeated measures ANOVA were conducted to assess at baseline and after 4 and 6 weeks. Results: Both groups had significant improvement in knowledge and attitude (p=0.000) and it was highly significant in peer education group (p=0.000). Six weeks follow up after intervention showed that peer education was better than health provider education (p=0.000). Conclusion: Education increases the knowledge and improves attitude of students about prevention and transmission of AIDS. Peer education is a more effective method than health provider for AIDS education in adolescent.