title: Knowledge about AIDS and drugs among undergraduate students in a higher education institution in the state of Paraná.
abstract: The main objective of this study was to measure the knowledge of undergraduate nursing students about Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and drugs. The study was carried out in 2007 with a random sample of 289 undergraduate students at a State University in the Northwest of Paraná, Brazil. The students self-applied a questionnaire validated by experts. Questions were divided into three levels of complexity: low, average and high. The level of correct answers was higher in the questions of low complexity, diminishing as the questions' complexity increased. Thirteen percent of questions concerning risk factors and vulnerability to HIV infection among injection drug users (IDU) and biological material for diagnosis of AIDS was correctly answered by 90% of students. Students possessed knowledge concerning AIDS and drugs, however such knowledge was considered insufficient, showing lack of information and gaps in education with a dissociation of interdisciplinary and inter-curricular content.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Brazil. enfso@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sônia Maria Soares
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: dos Santos
authors.forename: Magda Lúcia Félix
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013338:Students, Nursing; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult