Behaviour change in HIV infected subjects following health education.

A total of 85 HIV seropositive subjects among consecutive new registrants in the STD Department were given health education measures directed at avoiding high risk behaviors and also the events with a high potential for transmission of infection. The emphasis was on use of condoms discontinuing promiscuous behavior abstaining from homosexual acts and avoiding pregnancy; advice against marriage was also provided for those contemplating it. The Health Education Program was delivered individually to each subject over 2-3 sessions each lasting for 30-45 minutes. At the time of followup (1-24 months) 42% of subjects had become nonpromiscuous. There was good compliance on the advice against marriage and pregnancy 7 infants born during followup were seronegative. The use of the condom was not found to be acceptable. The prostitutes comprised the most resistant group to education. Among the factors that influenced the behavior change favorably were the absence of earlier STD or a short duration of the current STD. Literacy marital status or awareness of AIDS did not influence the outcome of education. The study demonstrated the feasibility of health education at the individual level in the clinical setting of an STD department. A longer followup may indicate the sustainability of a behavior change in the subjects. (authors modified)