AB142. Association between sociodemographic factors and HIV knowledge among Hong Kong citizens: a cross-sectional study

Background: HIV, as with other sex-related issues, has long been a taboo that Hong Kong citizens avoid talking about due to Chinese traditions, hence leading to an unwillingness to understand such topics and causing insufficient understanding about such diseases. The increasing proportion of late presenters, especially people who are older, in Hong Kong indicates that HIV knowledge and testing rates in the society are suboptimal and require improvement. We aim to investigate the association between sociodemographic factors and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) knowledge among Hong Kong citizens.

Methods: Through self-administered online questionnaires, the relationship between sociodemographic factors and HIV knowledge is investigated. The questionnaire contains an 18-question quiz regarding HIV knowledge, including its transmission and prevention methods. Sociodemographic information, such as age, sex, personal relationships with HIV patients, etc., is also collected in the questionnaire. The results of the quiz and the sociodemographic information and then processed, and statistical tests such as the Mann-Whitney U test are performed to obtain the results.

Results: A total of 483 responses were collected. The median age of the participants is 45 years, with an interquartile range of 35–56 years, with 45.1% of them being male. 50.9% of participants are married, and 71.8% of participants have received tertiary education. 19% of participants are working or have worked in medicinal and/or social welfare-related fields, and 5.4% of participants have personal relationships with HIV patients. The median score attained by the participants is 10 out of a maximum score of 19, with the scores resembling a symmetric, bell-shaped distribution centered around a peak of around 9–10. The most significant sociodemographic factors that affect HIV knowledge are age (P<0.001), education (P<0.001), having medical and/or social work (P<0.001), and relationships with HIV patients (P<0.001).

Conclusions: To conclude, sociodemographic factors do have effects on HIV knowledge among Hong Kong citizens, with certain factors having a more apparent effect than others. In addition, there exist patterns for certain groups of citizens; for example, those who are older and have a lower educational level generally have a lower HIV knowledge level. The government may focus more resources and policies, such as promotional campaigns, on these groups to alleviate the problem.

Keywords: Human immunodeficiency virus knowledge (HIV knowledge); sociodemographic factors; public health promotion; questionnaire survey