Knowledge and attitudes of physicians in private practice towards HIV/AIDS in Mashhad, Iran
Hedayati-Moghaddam, M.R.; Moradi Marjaneh, M.; Mashhadi, I.E.
International Journal of Std and Aids 23(8): E11-E16
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1758-1052 PMID: 22930308 DOI: 10.1258/ijsa.2009.009447Document Number: 573211
Being responsible for providing care for HIV/AIDS in a society, physicians should be knowledgeable and have favourable attitudes. We designed a cross-sectional study to assess knowledge and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS of private practicing physicians in Mashhad, Iran. A total of 346 general practitioners and specialists completed anonymous self-administered questionnaires with response rate of 91.1%. For knowledge questions, the mean proportion of correct responses was 53.5% (±13.2). Misconceptions about HIV transmission were the main areas of insufficient knowledge. Surprisingly only 20% knew how to manage a patient who had experienced sexual contact with an HIV-positive partner. While 84% disagreed that 'HIV-infected individuals deserved to catch infection' owing to high-risk behaviours, 38% sympathized less with people who were infected via extramarital sex. It seems that knowledge and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS among the studied physicians is not favourable and is an area that requires attention to enable effective management of the disease in Iran.