HIV/AIDS related perception and behavior: A comparative study among college students of different majors in China.
Xinying Sun, Lishi Fan, Chun Chang and 1 others
PMID 32995383WHAT IT FOUND
Medical students had the best HIV knowledge, while education and minority students had the least.
Music and fine arts students were the most sexually active but had the strongest intention to use condoms. Only about half of all students knew mosquitoes do not spread HIV.
Key findings
01Students majoring in education had the lowest AIDS-related knowledge scores, while medical students had the highest.
02Music or fine arts students reported the highest rates of sexual behavior (29.5% of males, 11.0% of females) but also had the strongest intention and self-efficacy for condom use.
03The belief that HIV can be transmitted by mosquito bites was the most common misconception, with less than 50% of students answering correctly.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Data were collected via self-report questionnaires, which may lead to underreporting of sensitive behaviors like sexual activity. The cross-sectional design prevents determining causality or tracking changes in knowledge and behavior over time. The study focused on Chinese college students, so findings may not generalize to other populations or educational systems.
Declared interests
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that higher sexual activity in music and fine arts students indicates poor judgment or lack of protection; this group reported the highest intention and self-efficacy for condom use. Conversely, do not assume that education-major students are safe because they are future teachers; they had the lowest knowledge and weakest condom-use intentions.