ABSTRACT

In this cross-sectional survey which was carried out in order to determine the level of knowledge about AIDS and the influencing factors related with this subject, 1129 soldiers selected systematically among totally 5651 soldiers from Ankara and Istanbul have been included. According study, it has been revealed that a high percentage of soldiers knew that AIDS is a contagious disease and it can spread by sexual intercourse. On the other hand, it has been determined that there were serious defects and wrong believes about risk groups, treatment and prevention of AIDS at the same time and that majority of these points about AIDS have been obtained from mass media. When factors effecting the level of knowledge were investigated, it has been seen that both the education level of soldiers and their parents and the size of settlement were statistically significantly.