Knowledge and attitudes of Senegalese sailors about HIV/AIDS.

BACKGROUND

In West Africa there is little information on the behavior of sailors with respect to HIV/AIDS.

AIM: The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes on HIV/AIDS and their risk factors.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study on a sample of 400 sailors. Information was collected on knowledge and attitudes. Multiple logistic regression was performed to analyse the factors related to knowledge and attitudes.

RESULTS

The mean age was 38.1 ± 9.8 years. Among sailors, 7.5% knew the 3 main modes of HIV transmissionand 48.3% did not sail with a crew member infected with HIV. Knowledge was related to occupationalcategory (OR = 14.07 [5.40-36.65]). Stigmatisation was related to education (OR = 0.45 [0.27-0.74]) and fear (0.19 [0.09-0.41]).

CONCLUSIONS

Sailors have a low level of knowledge and negative attitudes towards people living with HIV. Intervention simplemented must take into account the low level of knowledge and the mobility of the target population.