Knowledge of and attitude towards HIV/AIDS and condom use among construction workers in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

BACKGROUND

Nepal is seeing a surge in physical infrastructure in the past few years. Numerous workers enter the Kathmandu Valley to join the construction sector.

OBJECTIVE

This was a descriptive survey that set out to understand the knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS along with the use of condoms among construction workers in the Kathmandu Valley.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study was conducted in 8 different construction sites in the Kathmandu Valley. Systematic sampling was done to select a total of 317 samples that were either interviewed or handed the questionnaire for self-administration.

RESULTS

84.6% of the construction workers had sufficient knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and 61.8% had positive attitude towards HIV/AIDS. 50.5% of those who had sex in the past 1 year had used a condom the last time they had sex. Those with insufficient knowledge were found to have negative attitude (p<0.05) and were more likely to have not used a condom the last time (p<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that use of condom the last time was most affected by gender and level of knowledge.

CONCLUSION

Despite adequate knowledge, attitude and use of condom was found to be unsatisfactory. There is an urgent need to resolve this gap.