Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices toward HIV/AIDS among Senior Midwifery Students in Iran, in 2020

Background: Prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) depends on the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of health care providers. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among senior midwifery students in 2020. Methods: A descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study was performed on 618 midwifery students in selected universities of Medical Sciences and Department of Midwifery of Islamic Azad Universities in Iran in 2019-2020. Students were selected through multi-stage cluster random sampling. Data were collected using self-report questionnaire after confirmation of validity and reliability. The questionnaire consisted of demographic and educational characteristics and knowledge, attitude, and performance toward AIDS. Data were described using frequency and percent or mean and standard deviation. Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression model was used to explore the association between variables. Results: In this study, the mean age of study population was 23.1 years old (SD = 5.63) and the majority were single. The mean and standard deviation of midwifery students' knowledge, attitude, and practice was 26.93 (SD = 6.64), 80.45 (SD = 9.27) and 29.55 (SD = 9.10), respectively. There was a positive and weak correlation between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.22, P-value = 0.001), positive and weak correlation between knowledge and practice (r = 0.089, P-value = 0.02) and positive and moderate correlation between students’ attitude and practice of the senior midwifery students toward AIDS (r = 0.35, P-value = 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed moderate level of knowledge, attitude, and practice among midwifery students and the level of both attitude and practice was higher in advancing level of knowledge.