HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Health-Related Attitudes and Behaviors Among Deaf and Hearing Adolescents in Southern Brazil

• Published in: American annals of the deaf (Washington, D.C. 1886) D.C. 1886), 2008, Vol.153 (4), p.349-356
• Main Authors: Bisol, Cláudia Alquati, Sperb, Tania Mara, Brewer, Toye H., Kato, Sérgio Kakuta, Shor-Posner, Gail
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS); Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - prevention & control; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - transmission; Adolescent; Adolescents; AIDS; Brazil; Child Abuse, Sexual - statistics & numerical data; Communication Skills; Comparative Analysis; Computers; Condoms; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cultural Differences; Deafness; Deafness - rehabilitation; Developmental Tasks; Education, Special; Elementary Secondary Education; FEATURE ARTICLES; Female; Foreign Countries; Health Behavior; Health Education; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Hearing tests; HIV; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV Infections - transmission; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human sexual behavior; Humans; Knowledge Level; Language attitudes; Mainstreaming (Education); Male; Physical Disabilities; Public Schools; Question answer sequences; Questionnaires; Research Needs; Secondary Education; Self Concept; Sexual Abuse; Sexual behavior; Sexual partners; Sexuality; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Sign Language; Sign languages; Special Schools; Student Attitudes; Teaching Methods; Translation; Unsafe Sex; Video Technology; Young Adult; Young Adults
• ISSN: 0002-726X; 1543-0375; 1543-0375
• DOI: 10.1353/aad.0.0055

HIV/AIDS knowledge and health-related attitudes and behaviors among deaf and hearing adolescents in southern Brazil are described. Forty-two deaf students attending a special nonresidential public school for the deaf and 50 hearing students attending a regular public school, ages 15–21 years, answered a computer-assisted questionnaire. (There was simultaneous video translation of questions to Brazilian Sign Language.) A branched decision-tree structure was used to determine level of sexual experience and hearing status. Deaf participants scored lower on HIV/AIDS knowledge, demonstrating a need to improve school-based instruction and develop campaigns tailored to this group’s requirements. Though the hearing students reported more sexual activity than the deaf students, no other significant differences were found in health-related attitudes and behaviors. Two findings of concern are the high rate of sexual abuse reported by deaf participants and the large number of deaf adolescents reporting having a friend with AIDS.