Level of knowledge on HIV/AIDS among senior high school students

Background Young people are now the epicenter and hear a disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS pandemic. Until now, one of the strategies which are implemented by the government is by increasing the level of HIV/AIDS knowledge in order to avoid its spreading. Objective This study was to explore the level of HIV/AIDS knowledge of senior high school's students towards HIV/AIDS at subdistrict of Petang. The secondary outcome is to compare the levels of knowledge toward HIV/AIDS between Petang and Pelaga Senior high school, between class and gender. Methods This was a descriptive study, conducted between Is' to 28th February 2007 in Petang and Pelaga Senior High School, The study subjects are 529 students (all of senior high school students in subdistrict of Petang, Badung Regency). Data WAS taken using UNICEF questionnaire 2000 for young people, which had been passed the reliability test with the kappa value of 0.85. Results Most subjects (90.5%) have excellent and good knowledge and only 9,5% have sufficient knowledge. Level of knowledge in girls is better than boys with significant difference between them (P=0.000), while school and grade didn't show any differences (P=0.760) and (P=0.489). Conclusion The level of knowledge of senior High School in Subdistrict of Petang, Badung Regency toward HIV/AIDS is at excellent or good level