Knowledge of and Attitude Towards HIV/AIDS and Condom Use among Construction Workers in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
Astha Pant MSc*, Manop Kanato PhD*, Panna Thapa PhD**, Amornrat Ratanasiri PhD*
Affiliation : * Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand ** Department of Pharmacy, Kathmandu University School of Science, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal
Background : Nepal is seeing a surge in physical infrastructure in the past few years. Numerous workers enter the Kathmandu
Valley to join the construction sector.
Objective : This was a descriptive survey that set out to understand the knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS along
with the use of condoms among construction workers in the Kathmandu Valley.
Material and Method: The study was conducted in 8 different construction sites in the Kathmandu Valley. Systematic
sampling was done to select a total of 317 samples that were either interviewed or handed the questionnaire for self-
administration.
Results : 84.6% of the construction workers had sufficient knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and 61.8% had positive attitude
towards HIV/AIDS. 50.5% of those who had sex in the past 1 year had used a condom the last time they had sex. Those with
insufficient knowledge were found to have negative attitude (p<0.05) and were more likely to have not used a condom the last
time (p<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that use of condom the last time was most affected by gender and
level of knowledge.
Conclusion : Despite adequate knowledge, attitude and use of condom was found to be unsatisfactory. There is an urgent need
to resolve this gap.
Keywords : HIV/AIDS, Construction workers, Knowledge, Attitude, Use of condom
