Correlates of misperceptions in HIV knowledge and attitude towards People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) among in-school and out-of-school adolescents in Ghana.

BACKGROUND A quarter century into the HIV pandemic, knowledge about sexual transmission and sharing of needles remain high just as misperceptions relating to casual contact. OBJECTIVES To assess HIV knowledge, misperceptions, and attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) among adolescents. METHODS A cross sectional quantitative and qualitative study was conducted among adolescents aged 10-19 (n = 483; mean age, 16.6) in the Ashanti region of Ghana. RESULTS Knowledge score ranged 0 to 38 (mean = 26.64; sd +/- 6.74). To prevent AIDS, 78.1% mentioned sexual abstinence, condom use (72.7%), fidelity to partner (72.5%), not sharing needles (76.4%), and reducing sexual partners (56.7%). Statistically significant associations were found in high misperception scores and having negative attitude towards PLWHAs (0.001 < p < 0.009). Out-of-school adolescents were less likely to be willing to take care of HIV/AIDS relatives (p = 0.004); allow PLWHAs conceal their status (p < 0.001); allow PLWHAs to work with others (p = 0.007); more likely to let PLWHAs have less healthcare (p = 0.026); and indicate that PLWHAs should be isolated (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Out-of-school adolescents constitute hard-to-reach population and mechanisms should be developed to reach them to reduce misperceptions which may fuel stigma and discrimination.