A modified version of the 'WHO/KABP Questionnaire for Students' was administered to 302 students at a medical university in China. The instrument included items to assess the students' demographic background, knowledge of AIDS/HIV, attitudes about AIDS, as well as towards people infected with HIV, those groups commonly labelled as 'high risk' and toward sources of information. The average score on the knowledge scale was 80% correct. There was a substantial disparity in knowledge between how HIV is transmitted and how HIV is not transmitted--90% of the former items were answered correctly, while only 72% of the latter were answered correctly. Over 40% of the sample blamed prostitutes for AIDS in China, whereas 22% blamed drug addicts and 6% blamed homosexuals. Two-thirds of the sample indicated that they thought people with AIDS got what they deserve. About one-third of the sample supported quarantine measures as well as keeping infected students out of classrooms. Nearly half of the sample indicated that they did not trust any of the official sources of health information we asked about and 27% said that they thought the government was concealing information about AIDS.
PIP: A modified version of the WHO/KAP Questionnaire for Students was administered to 302 students at a medical university in China to assess their demographic background, knowledge of AIDS/HIV, attitudes about AIDS, and attitudes toward people infected with HIV. 90% responded correctly about how HIV is transmitted, but only 72% responded correctly to questions on how HIV is not transmitted; the average score on the knowledge scale was 80% correct. With regard to infected individuals in commonly considered high-risk groups, more than 40% blamed prostitutes for AIDS in China, 22% blamed drug addicts, and 6% blamed homosexuals. Two-thirds indicated that they thought people with AIDS got what they deserved; one-third supported quarantine measures as well as keeping infected students out of the classrooms; and almost 50% indicated that they did not trust any of the official sources of health information about which they were asked. 27% said that they thought the government was concealing information about AIDS.