Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)

Introduction HIV is a chronic viral infection that invariably progresses into a life-threatening condition known as AIDS. India has the third highest burden of HIV in the world with an estimated 2.3 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) in 2021. Existing studies assessing the knowledge and attitude...

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Main Authors: Mansi Malik, Siaa Girotra, Debolina Roy, Saurav Basu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Publishing 2023-05-01
Series:Population Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.populationmedicine.eu/Knowledge-of-HIV-AIDS-and-its-determinants-in-India-Findings-from-the-National-Family,163113,0,2.html
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author Mansi Malik
Siaa Girotra
Debolina Roy
Saurav Basu
author_facet Mansi Malik
Siaa Girotra
Debolina Roy
Saurav Basu
author_sort Mansi Malik
collection DOAJ
description Introduction HIV is a chronic viral infection that invariably progresses into a life-threatening condition known as AIDS. India has the third highest burden of HIV in the world with an estimated 2.3 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) in 2021. Existing studies assessing the knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS in India have small sample sizes with regional bias and lack of representativeness. Thus, the study objective was to determine the proportion and predictors of knowledge and attitude of HIV/AIDS in the Indian population through a large, nationally representative demographic and health survey (DHS). Methods A repeated cross-sectional secondary data analysis utilizing the DHS data from India’s National Family Health Survey NFHS-5 (2019–2021) and NFHS-4 (2015–2016) was conducted, wherein the participants were interviewed face-to-face by trained field investigators. A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to find out the factors associated with suboptimal knowledge and lack of positive attitude towards PLHIV. Results The NFHS-5 included a sample of 202052 participants while the NFHS-4 included 225876 participants. In NFHS-5, 25.80% of the respondents had comprehensive knowledge of HIV whereas 26.54% reported a positive attitude, indicative of a small reduction from 26.38% and 28.67%, respectively, in the NFHS-4 survey. Factors such as male gender, increasing age, employment status, higher level of education, frequency of reading newspapers and watching television were associated with significantly higher odds of having comprehensive knowledge and positive attitude towards HIV. Moreover, there were 48.21% and 58.56% respondents in the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 survey, respectively, who were aware of the mode of transmission of HIV from mother to child. Conclusions Nearly three in four young and middle-aged Indians have a persistent lack of comprehensive knowledge of HIV, which increases their risk of infection, a situation which has worsened in a 5-year period. Adverse social determinants contribute to suboptimal knowledge but not attitude towards PLHIV.
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spelling doaj-art-ccd0baa208aa4a1eb89f5357fef23c272025-08-20T02:41:43ZengEuropean PublishingPopulation Medicine2654-14592023-05-015May11210.18332/popmed/163113163113Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)Mansi Malik0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4600-7374Siaa Girotra1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4028-1065Debolina Roy2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1535-5034Saurav Basu3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1336-8720Indian Institute of Public Health – Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, IndiaIndian Institute of Public Health – Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, IndiaIndian Institute of Public Health – Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, IndiaIndian Institute of Public Health – Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, IndiaIntroduction HIV is a chronic viral infection that invariably progresses into a life-threatening condition known as AIDS. India has the third highest burden of HIV in the world with an estimated 2.3 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) in 2021. Existing studies assessing the knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS in India have small sample sizes with regional bias and lack of representativeness. Thus, the study objective was to determine the proportion and predictors of knowledge and attitude of HIV/AIDS in the Indian population through a large, nationally representative demographic and health survey (DHS). Methods A repeated cross-sectional secondary data analysis utilizing the DHS data from India’s National Family Health Survey NFHS-5 (2019–2021) and NFHS-4 (2015–2016) was conducted, wherein the participants were interviewed face-to-face by trained field investigators. A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to find out the factors associated with suboptimal knowledge and lack of positive attitude towards PLHIV. Results The NFHS-5 included a sample of 202052 participants while the NFHS-4 included 225876 participants. In NFHS-5, 25.80% of the respondents had comprehensive knowledge of HIV whereas 26.54% reported a positive attitude, indicative of a small reduction from 26.38% and 28.67%, respectively, in the NFHS-4 survey. Factors such as male gender, increasing age, employment status, higher level of education, frequency of reading newspapers and watching television were associated with significantly higher odds of having comprehensive knowledge and positive attitude towards HIV. Moreover, there were 48.21% and 58.56% respondents in the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 survey, respectively, who were aware of the mode of transmission of HIV from mother to child. Conclusions Nearly three in four young and middle-aged Indians have a persistent lack of comprehensive knowledge of HIV, which increases their risk of infection, a situation which has worsened in a 5-year period. Adverse social determinants contribute to suboptimal knowledge but not attitude towards PLHIV.https://www.populationmedicine.eu/Knowledge-of-HIV-AIDS-and-its-determinants-in-India-Findings-from-the-National-Family,163113,0,2.htmlhiv/aidsknowledge of hivdhsnfhsindiaattitude
spellingShingle Mansi Malik
Siaa Girotra
Debolina Roy
Saurav Basu
Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)
Population Medicine
hiv/aids
knowledge of hiv
dhs
nfhs
india
attitude
title Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)
title_full Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)
title_fullStr Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)
title_short Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its determinants in India: Findings from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021)
title_sort knowledge of hiv aids and its determinants in india findings from the national family health survey 5 2019 2021
topic hiv/aids
knowledge of hiv
dhs
nfhs
india
attitude
url https://www.populationmedicine.eu/Knowledge-of-HIV-AIDS-and-its-determinants-in-India-Findings-from-the-National-Family,163113,0,2.html
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AT debolinaroy knowledgeofhivaidsanditsdeterminantsinindiafindingsfromthenationalfamilyhealthsurvey520192021
AT sauravbasu knowledgeofhivaidsanditsdeterminantsinindiafindingsfromthenationalfamilyhealthsurvey520192021