Knowledge base and caretaker–child communication about HIV in peri-urban schoolchildren of Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

Peri-urban communities, which face health risks of both urban and rural environments, have grown extensively with recent global urbanization. These communities' combination of multiple HIV risk factors with the lack of a formalized sexual education system sets the stage for high-risk behavior in peri-urban youth. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of children (ages 5–17, N=331) and accompanying caretakers in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia, using both closed- and open-ended questions to investigate HIV knowledge and communication. We found that while 67% of children had heard of HIV, only 26% and 23% could accurately name a major mode of transmission and prevention, respectively. In a multivariate model, increasing age was the only significant demographic correlate of a child's ability to offer accurate responses to either question. Though HIV/AIDS knowledge levels were high in the eldest (14–17-year old) age group, in the 10–13-year-old age group accurate modes of transmission and prevention were provided by only 41% and 33% of study participants, respectively. Sharp instruments, particularly razor blades, were mentioned nearly as frequently as sexual intercourse with respect to both transmission and prevention, a response trend that predominated in the youngest age group but persisted into the oldest. Seventy percent of caretakers had not spoken with their child about HIV. A history of caretaker–child communication about HIV was associated with an increased likelihood of a child offering an accurate mode of transmission (OR 2.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.41–5.18, p=0.0029) or prevention (OR 3.43, 95% CI 1.78–6.60, p=0.0002), in multivariate analyses. Our results demonstrate a lack of knowledge and dialog about HIV in the pre-adolescent subset of high-risk peri-urban youth, and uncover undue emphasis on razor blades as a major mode of disease transmission.

Keywords:

• HIV
• AIDS
• pediatric
• epidemiology

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Edgar Shilika, Edward Nyimbili, Sampa Mukuka, and the entire staff of Angel of Mercy Child Health Programme for having made possible the collection of these data. We would also like to thank Dr Sonya Shin for her thoughtful guidance. This work was supported by two Paul Dudley White traveling fellowships from the Office of Enrichment Programs of Harvard Medical School (Julia Carnevale and Adrienne B. Gropper), and a grant from Abt Associates (Boston, MA) (Julia Carnevale, Adrienne B. Gropper, Jessica Agnew-Blais, and Richard Bail). The authors have no affiliations that pose a potential conflict of interest to this work.