RESEARCH ARTICLE


Knowledge about HIV/AIDS and Attitudes towards Sexuality of Undergraduate Students at a Peruvian University



Anwar Julio Yarin Achachagua1, *
iD
, Ivan Ángel Encalada Díaz2
iD
, Jorge Wilmer Elias Silupu3
iD
, Abad Antonio Surichaqui Mateo4
iD
, Sandy Dorian Isla Alcoser5
iD
, Beatriz Silvia Surichaqui Tiza2
iD

1 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Ingeniería Industrial, Lima District, Peru
2 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Educación, Lima District, Peru
3 Universidad Nacional Ciro Alegría, Facultad de Ingeniería, La Libertad, Peru
4 Universidad Nacional Huancavelica, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales, Huancavelica, Peru
5 Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales, Huancavelica, Peru


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Creative Commons License
© 2022 Achachagua et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Ingeniería Industrial, Lima District, Peru; Tel: 51989427051; E-mail: anwar.yarin@unmsm.edu.pe


Abstract

Background:

In Peru, there are some concerning difficulties in ascertaining the situation of sexually transmitted diseases, which makes it even more difficult to prevent and improve this situation.

Objective:

The objective of this article was to inquire what knowledge the students at a Peruvian university have about HIV/AIDS in order to determine the relationship between this knowledge and attitude towards sexuality.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study with a non-experimental design, involving a quantitative approach and a correlation measurement. 294 students were included in the study. The data collection technique used was the survey for each study variable with a Cronbach's alpha of .884 for the first variable and .704 for the second variable. Spearman's Rho coefficient correlation test was used to contrast the results.

Results:

Among the results, a significant and reverse correlation was obtained between knowledge about HIV/AIDS and attitudes towards sexuality (r = -.304, p-value = .000). Likewise, only 54.8% of the students were found to have adequate knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and 75.17% had normal attitude towards sexuality.

Conclusion:

It has been concluded that the more the adequate knowledge about HIV, the less students present risk-taking attitudes towards sexuality, and given the evidence of risky sexual behaviour in all age groups, as well as a significant number engaging in regular risk sexual behaviour, we suggest that universities implement sex education programs permanently regardless of the academic cycle.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Sexuality, Attitude, Level of knowledge, University, Adolescent.