Many of China's Docs, Nurses May Lack Facts on HIV
February 25, 2003 02:35:44 PM PST,While the United Nations says China is "on the verge of a catastrophe" with regard to HIV infection, 90% of health care workers know little about how the virus is spread and are apprehensive about treating AIDS patients, a study of hospitals in one mid-size city shows.
"There's still a lot of misunderstanding about how the virus can and cannot be transmitted and a misunderstanding about hospital policies," said Dr. Allen Anderson, assistant dean in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in Kokomo. "There needs to be a lot more education at the grass roots level" for healthcare workers, he told Reuters Health.
, http://www.100md.com
Last year, Anderson and a group of Chinese researchers gave questionnaires to 149 healthcare workers from three different hospitals. The questions addressed doctors' and nurses' understanding of HIV transmission, knowledge of their hospital's HIV control policies and attitudes toward infected patients.Almost 92% of those surveyed said they were concerned about contracting HIV on the job.Only 27% thought accidental needle sticks--which can spread HIV--were a potential source for contracting the virus.
, 百拇医药
Although blood, semen and vaginal fluid were widely recognized by the healthcare workers as potentially dangerous, 34% thought HIV could be passed through saliva.About 4% of workers believed they could contract the disease by breathing the air in a patient's room.Fourteen percent thought HIV could be transmitted through urine, and 9% believed exposure to feces was risky. About 22% of respondents believed they could pick up HIV from toilet seats.A third of healthcare workers believed HIV could be transmitted through mosquito bites.
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Several workers had received some sort of HIV/AIDS instruction in the past, but still held these misconceptions."Both their high degree of concern about contracting HIV and their low level of understanding regarding how the virus is not transmitted may help explain why a sizable proportion of participants had little desire to care for HIV/AIDS patients," the researchers write.
The study is published in the February issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
, 百拇医药
In some of China's more modern cities, like Beijing, Anderson says the knowledge about HIV is probably much better. But in the rural areas, where most people with HIV live, the understanding is much lower.
The most recent number of documented HIV cases in China is 40,560, according to Anderson, who noted that this number is probably far too low.
"They have not been able to do really broad testing outside of high risk populations like prostitutes and drug users, so they're estimating at least one million actual infections in the country," said Anderson.
, http://www.100md.com
Unless more healthcare workers are willing to treat HIV patients and effective prevention and control policies are put in place, some experts believe the number of HIV-infected Chinese will grow to 10 million by 2010.Anderson is one of several researchers working to address the problem of ignorance among Chinese healthcare workers. He and his colleagues will test a training module this summer that incorporates a hands-on approach to educating Chinese hospital staff about how HIV is spread and how to care for HIV-infected patients properly.
, http://www.100md.com
"Culturally, there is still more apprehension in talking about sexually related matters and talking about AIDS," said Anderson. "A lot of stigma is carried by individuals who have HIV in China. I think that barrier has to be overcome in the educational process."
SOURCE: Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 2003;24:128-131., http://www.100md.com
"There's still a lot of misunderstanding about how the virus can and cannot be transmitted and a misunderstanding about hospital policies," said Dr. Allen Anderson, assistant dean in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in Kokomo. "There needs to be a lot more education at the grass roots level" for healthcare workers, he told Reuters Health.
, http://www.100md.com
Last year, Anderson and a group of Chinese researchers gave questionnaires to 149 healthcare workers from three different hospitals. The questions addressed doctors' and nurses' understanding of HIV transmission, knowledge of their hospital's HIV control policies and attitudes toward infected patients.Almost 92% of those surveyed said they were concerned about contracting HIV on the job.Only 27% thought accidental needle sticks--which can spread HIV--were a potential source for contracting the virus.
, 百拇医药
Although blood, semen and vaginal fluid were widely recognized by the healthcare workers as potentially dangerous, 34% thought HIV could be passed through saliva.About 4% of workers believed they could contract the disease by breathing the air in a patient's room.Fourteen percent thought HIV could be transmitted through urine, and 9% believed exposure to feces was risky. About 22% of respondents believed they could pick up HIV from toilet seats.A third of healthcare workers believed HIV could be transmitted through mosquito bites.
, http://www.100md.com
Several workers had received some sort of HIV/AIDS instruction in the past, but still held these misconceptions."Both their high degree of concern about contracting HIV and their low level of understanding regarding how the virus is not transmitted may help explain why a sizable proportion of participants had little desire to care for HIV/AIDS patients," the researchers write.
The study is published in the February issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
, 百拇医药
In some of China's more modern cities, like Beijing, Anderson says the knowledge about HIV is probably much better. But in the rural areas, where most people with HIV live, the understanding is much lower.
The most recent number of documented HIV cases in China is 40,560, according to Anderson, who noted that this number is probably far too low.
"They have not been able to do really broad testing outside of high risk populations like prostitutes and drug users, so they're estimating at least one million actual infections in the country," said Anderson.
, http://www.100md.com
Unless more healthcare workers are willing to treat HIV patients and effective prevention and control policies are put in place, some experts believe the number of HIV-infected Chinese will grow to 10 million by 2010.Anderson is one of several researchers working to address the problem of ignorance among Chinese healthcare workers. He and his colleagues will test a training module this summer that incorporates a hands-on approach to educating Chinese hospital staff about how HIV is spread and how to care for HIV-infected patients properly.
, http://www.100md.com
"Culturally, there is still more apprehension in talking about sexually related matters and talking about AIDS," said Anderson. "A lot of stigma is carried by individuals who have HIV in China. I think that barrier has to be overcome in the educational process."
SOURCE: Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 2003;24:128-131., http://www.100md.com