Knowledge, attitude, and willingness of Nigerian physiotherapy students to provide care for patients living with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Abstract

In the current AIDS pandemics, equipping health professional students with adequate knowledge and positive attitude is necessary to produce graduates who can deliver appropriate intervention to patients infected with HIV or who have developed AIDS. The purpose of this study was 1) to investigate the Nigerian physiotherapy students' knowledge, attitude, and their willingness to provide care for patients living with AIDS (PWA) and to 2) determine the sociodemographic variables that could influence the students' attitude and willingness to provide care for PWA. Physiotherapy students (N = 104) in four training programs in Nigeria were surveyed using a two-part questionnaire. Part I elicited sociodemographic and previous AIDS encounter information, and Part II assessed knowledge, attitude, and willingness to provide care to PWA. Nigerian students showed unsatisfactory knowledge, harbored negative attitude, and many of them were unwilling to render care for PWA. Religious affiliation, training programs, long-term career goals, and previous instructions on AIDS influenced the students' attitude. The study identified the need for a comprehensive AIDS curriculum and recommend that all programs in Nigeria include clinical clerkship, small group discussions, and seminars on ethical and medico-legal issues on AIDS in their curriculum.