Risk behaviours and AIDS knowledge in a rural community of Senegal: relationship with sources of AIDS information.

ABSTRACT

PIP: Local interviewers administered a questionnaire in 1994 to 240 men and 242 women aged 15-59 years in the Ziguinchor region of southwest Senegal, randomly selected from the general population, in an investigation of respondents' sources of HIV/AIDS-related information and their relationship with AIDS-related knowledge and sex behavior. The main sources of HIV/AIDS-related information cited by respondents were radio for men (61%), the local health center for women (52%), and television for 42% of men and 33% of women. Information from school was cited by 16% of men and 5% of women. Among men, citing radio as a source of information was associated with an improved overall AIDS-related knowledge and fewer casual sex partners in the 12 months before the interview. Women citing the local health center as a source of HIV/AIDS information had a better perception of condom use and more often felt threatened by HIV/AIDS, but declared no significantly different number of casual sex partners in the 12 months preceding the interview. Exposure to television was associated with a higher AIDS knowledge score for men, fewer casual sex partners for women, and a better attitude about condoms among men.