AUTHOR=Qashqari Fadi S. , Alsafi Radi T. , Kabrah Saeed M. , AlGary Rayda'a A. , Naeem Sara A. , Alsulami Malak S. , Makhdoom Hatim 

TITLE=Knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission modes and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS infected people and the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among the general population in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.955458

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.955458

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Introduction: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) are worldwide public health issues. Since Saudi Arabia is growing more accessible to the outside world, it is critical to analyse the general population's knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission modes and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS infected people and the level of HIV/AIDS awareness.
Methods: The current online community-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a self-administrated electronic questionnaire between October 2017 and February 2018.
Results: A total of 2081 subjects residing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in this survey. The mean score of the participant's responses to knowledge items on HIV/AIDS transmission modes was 84.2±15.8%. The mean score of the participant's responses to attitude items toward HIV/AIDS infected people was 50.1±49.9%. The mean score of the participant's responses to attitude items toward the level of HIV/AIDS awareness in Saudi Arabia was 55.7 ±3.6%. Many socio-demographic variables were significantly associated with mean scores of knowledge on HIV/AIDS transmission modes, mean scores of attitude toward HIV/AIDS infected people, and mean scores of attitude toward the level of HIV/AIDS awareness (p < 0.01). The Spearman rank correlation explained significant negative linear correlations between knowledge on HIV/AIDS transmission modes-attitudes toward HIV/AIDS infected people and knowledge on HIV/AIDS transmission modes-attitudes toward the level of HIV/AIDS awareness of r = -0.040 and r = -0.070, respectively (p  < 0.01). Otherwise, there was a positive linear correlation between attitudes toward HIV/AIDS infected people-attitudes toward the level of HIV/AIDS awareness (r = 0.080, p = 0.072).
Conclusions: The study showed that a high percentage of the respondents had good knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission modes. However, a low rate of the study respondents had positive attitudes toward HIV/AIDS infected people and the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among the general population in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, there is a dire need for advocacy campaigns and policies to help reduce HIV stigmatization levels.