Aids prevention among college students

do their peers influence them?

Abstract

Study design: Analytical surgery. Study purpose: To check on the students’perceptions living in the Great São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil, about risky behaviors adoptedby their peers; the information about the proper risk for contracting aids, use of condom and the ability to insure their peers in using it and the circumstances in which they accepted being influenced by their peers concerning aids prevention. Methodology: After an exploratory study, a self-applied questionnaire was administered among students. The sample was obtained by a convenience criterion, constituted of 1,039 college students attending private schools in the Great São Paulo area. Results: As to peers risky behaviors 56,2% of men and 56,4% of women reported the inconsistent condom use; sexual intercourse with many partners was admitted by 12,2% of men and by 5,7% of women. As to their own risky behavior of contracting aids, the degree of perception was low, being less marked among women. Conclusions: Though acknowledging the condom use on the part of their peers as a means for avoiding aids for themselves and to their peers, it seems to exist some incoherence concerning their perception of risk contracting aids, their own and that of their peers.