BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices about HIV/AIDS of high school students in Panama City, Panama and the impact of a peer-to-peer intervention project. METHODS: There were 659 participants in two public and two private schools, one of each got the intervention and the other serving as control. A questionnaire was used as a pretest and post-test to measure the effects of the intervention. The intervention consisted of 12 weekly sessions led by professionally trained peers using four different modalities: theater, group dynamics, videos, and discussions. RESULTS: The difference in the knowledge scores of the questionnaire resulted in an improvement in both the private (ES=0.63) and the public (ES=0.52) schools with the intervention. Another important finding was that the idea of abstinence as disease prevention for high school students rose from 7% to 60% (public school) and from 27% to 62% (private school) in response to an open-ended question. CONCLUSIONS: There were other significant positive findings that demonstrate the efficacy of this peer-to-peer model educating high school students about lowering the risks of contracting HIV/AIDS. This model could also be used to prevent or mitigate other risky behaviors.
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices about HIV/AIDS of high school students in Panama City, Panama and the impact of a peer-to-peer intervention project. METHODS: There were 659 participants in two public and two private schools, one of each got the intervention and the other serving as control. A questionnaire was used as a pretest and post-test to measure the effects of the intervention. The intervention consisted of 12 weekly sessions led by professionally trained peers using four different modalities: theater, group dynamics, videos, and discussions. RESULTS: The difference in the knowledge scores of the questionnaire resulted in an improvement in both the private (ES=0.63) and the public (ES=0.52) schools with the intervention. Another important finding was that the idea of abstinence as disease prevention for high school students rose from 7% to 60% (public school) and from 27% to 62% (private school) in response to an open-ended question. CONCLUSIONS: There were other significant positive findings that demonstrate the efficacy of this peer-to-peer model educating high school students about lowering the risks of contracting HIV/AIDS. This model could also be used to prevent or mitigate other risky behaviors.
Authors: Alexandra Morales; José P Espada; Mireia Orgilés; Silvia Escribano; Blair T Johnson; Marguerita Lightfoot Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-06-28 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: George Ayala; Laurel Sprague; L Leigh-Ann van der Merwe; Ruth Morgan Thomas; Judy Chang; Sonya Arreola; Sara L M Davis; Aditia Taslim; Keith Mienies; Alessandra Nilo; Lillian Mworeko; Felicita Hikuam; Carlos Garcia de Leon Moreno; José Antonio Izazola-Licea Journal: PLoS One Date: 2021-12-01 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Amanda Gabster; Debbie Y Mohammed; Griselda B Arteaga; Omar Castillero; Nataly Mojica; José Dyamond; Maria Varela; Juan Miguel Pascale Journal: PLoS One Date: 2016-09-22 Impact factor: 3.240