Attitude and knowledge of high school pupils in Holon (Israel) toward AIDS

The study was designed to test the knowledge and attitude of pupils in three high schools with respect to AIDS. The 412 pupils who participated in the study represented three different educational institutions: an academic level school, a traditional religious school, and a vocational trade school. The standard of knowledge was found to be relatively lacking (67-75%), and there were significant differences between the three schools (P<0.00001). There were many misconceptions concerning the symptomatology of the disease, its chronology and its prognosis. Boys were better informed than girls (P<0.0225), and with age, the pupils' knowledge improved (P <0.001). There were, however, no differences in the severity of the pupils' attitude towards the disease in any of the three schools (P<0.00001). Attitudes regarding expulsion of AIDS patients from school, and moral and financial assistance varied from school to school. A most consistent factor was that pupils acquired their knowledge from the media (TV 94.66%, newspapers 89.81%), and that the medical profession contributed very little to the pupils' understanding of the disease (22.09%). Most of the pupils (92.9%) requested that prevention of this disease be incorporated as a subject into the formal teaching program of the school.