The knowledge of HIV/AIDS by a group of elderly people at Criciúma-SC/Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Madeira,Kristian
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Simões,Priscyla Waleska Targino de Azevedo, Heluany,Matheus Cipriano Vidal, Heluany,Claudia Cipriano Vidal, Mello,Maria Caroline Seraphim
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Geriatrics, Gerontology and Aging (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://ggaging.com/details/110
• topic: HIV, elderly, prevention.

<p><b>INTRODUCTION:</b> HIV infection is a global phenomenon, extremely prevalent worldwide and it is currently considered a pandemic. Since the prevalence of this infection in elderly population has increased, it may be assumed an increase of sexual activity in this population, so it is essential the knowledge about it in this population.<br> <b>OBJECTIVES</b>: To determine the degree of knowledge about HIV/AIDS in a group of elderly people in Crici&uacute;ma, Santa Catarina, Brazil, in the first semester of 2013, which included basic concepts, transmission and prevention.<br> <b>METHODOLOGY:</b> The study was a cross-sectional observational, descriptive, predominantly with a quantitative approach, using as a study area a health center at Crici&uacute;ma/SC neighborhood, where the elderly people's meetings took place. The sample was composed by elderly individuals who attended the elderlies' meeting during the days that the questionnaires were applied and that fulfilled the inclusion criteria.<br> <b>RESULTS:</b> The study population was composed predominantly by women, constituting 90.4%. The education level most common was 1-3 years of education (43.2%). Regarding the transmission, 33% of the population believed that transmission occurred through a mosquito bite. Nearly half of the interviewees, 47.7% thought that the person with the AIDS virus always shows symptoms of the disease. Only 12% of sexually active interviewees answered affirmatively wearing condoms during sexual intercourse.<br> <b>CONCLUSION:</b> Although the population has already been in touch with informations about this disease, it is notable the not knowing of basic aspects important to the prevention, demonstrating the need for a corrective action in this way.</p>