Sociological assessment of the population's attitude to the issues of primary hiv prevention.
Authors:   Federal State Budgetary Institution of Higher Education «North Ossetia State Medical Academy » of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Alikova Z.R. , Dziraeva Z. B. ,   Federal State Budgetary Institution of Higher Education «North Ossetia State Medical Academy » of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Kardanova L. D. ,   Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Berbekov, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Alikova T. T. ,   Federal State Budgetary Institution of Higher Education «North Ossetia State Medical Academy » of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation
Published: February 2025

The maximum coverage of the population by medical examination for HIV infection is aimed at early detection of possible infection. The effectiveness of primary HIV prevention largely depends on its implementation at the territorial level, taking into account the attitude of the population, geography and the specifics of socio-economic development.
The purpose of the study: to determine the regional peculiarities of the population’s attitude to the issues of primary HIV prevention in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.
Materials and methods. A sociological survey was conducted among the population of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. The questionnaire method was applied. The sample (n=600) included the most vulnerable age groups: 15–17 years old; 18–22 years old; 23–29 years old; 30–35 years old. Of these, 55% are women and 45% are men, 62% are urban residents and 38% are rural residents.
According to their social status, the respondents are university students, schoolchildren, workers, employees, and the unemployed. The data was processed and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0.1 program.
Results. The results of a sociological study among the most vulnerable segments of the population (adolescents, youth) revealed their attitude to primary prevention methods, including testing and voluntary medical examination for HIV infection. The results showed a fairly high awareness of infection detection methods, and 87% of respondents believe that it is necessary to donate blood for HIV antibodies.
At the same time, in the group of teenagers aged 15–17. More than 50% of respondents control their HIV infection safety. Respondents aged 18–22 (62.7%), represented by students and students of technical schools, expressed the greatest confidence in the absence of risk and control of their safety. The majority of respondents of all ages believe that after a dangerous contact, they should be examined in 3–6 months. However, a large percentage (34%) found it difficult to answer, and teenagers and college students mistakenly consider it necessary to be examined the next day, which indicates ignorance of this aspect of the HIV problem./AIDS. The respondents’ attitude to their health was reflected in the responses to the question about mandatory medical examination for HIV. 40% of respondents were tested for HIV on a mandatory basis, 19% voluntarily, and 28% had never been tested. Thus, more than half (59%) of the respondents were tested for HIV at one time. 50.7% of adolescents have not been tested for HIV. More than half of the respondents know where to get
an anonymous survey. The expected positive responses among schoolchildren and students did not exceed 40%, and among employees, workers and unemployed (housewives) reached 70%. There were no significant differences in the respondents’ responses by gender and place of residence.
Conclusion. An analysis of the results indicates low levels of public awareness of the importance of primary HIV prevention. It is obvious that there is a need to optimize information work among the population on the part of the specialized center for the prevention and control of AIDS, paying special attention to adolescent school students who are the most vulnerable in matters of risky behavior.