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Workplace Perception and Attitude Towards People Living with HIV/AIDS of Persons in Senior Administrative Positions in Public Universities in Nigeria

Received: 5 September 2015     Accepted: 26 September 2015     Published: 13 October 2015
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Abstract

Persons in senior administrative positions (SAP) in public universities are an important segment of the workforce, which could play an important role in the control of HIV/AIDS through their impact on the attitude to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) both within and outside the university community. However, there is a gross dearth of information on their perception of HIV/AIDS and the corresponding attitude to PLWHA. This is unlike the profusion of data on the perception of students in tertiary institutions of higher learning. The objective of this study was thus to determine the level of awareness and perception of HIV/AIDS, and the workplace attitude to PLWHA, of persons in SAP in public universities and the association with the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. A self-administered questionnaire, ‘Awareness and Attitude towards PLWHA scale’ was used to elicit responses from 250 persons, representing 91.6% of those eligible, in a cross-sectional survey of Deans of Faculties, Directors and Heads of Departments in two public universities in Edo State, Nigeria. Mean scores and mean percentage responses were compared between groups using Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA. The level of significance was set at P <0.05. The mean (standard deviation, SD) of Respondents with correct answers to the questions on perception was 72.7 (12.8)% on perception of the nature of HIV/AIDS, 45.1 (38.6)% on transmission, 90.9 (7.4)% on diagnosis and 85.8 (10.8)% on perception of its prevention (P = 0.034). The mean (SD) of the responses on general attitude was 96.8 (2.9)% and that on workplace attitude 85.2 (7.5)% (P = 0.036). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean overall scores on perception and attitude in relation to age, gender and religion. We conclude that the perception of HIV/AIDS and workplace attitude to PLWHA among persons in SAP in public universities in Nigeria are quite favourable, except in relation to the transmission of infection. We also conclude that the perception is unrelated to the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. These findings are relevant to the development of HIV/AIDS control messages, particularly those targeted at the reduction of stigmatization and discrimination, important attitudinal problems fueling the transmission of HIV/AIDS in resource-poor countries.

Published in European Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12
Page(s) 172-179
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Demographic Factors, HIV/AIDS, Nigeria, Persons in Senior Administrative Positions, Public Universities, Workplace Perception and Attitude

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Cite This Article
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    Mabel Omonigho Akpede, Austin Itohan Ojugo, Gloria Omolegho Omi-Ujuanbi, George Obozokhale Akpede. (2015). Workplace Perception and Attitude Towards People Living with HIV/AIDS of Persons in Senior Administrative Positions in Public Universities in Nigeria. European Journal of Preventive Medicine, 3(6), 172-179. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12

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    Mabel Omonigho Akpede; Austin Itohan Ojugo; Gloria Omolegho Omi-Ujuanbi; George Obozokhale Akpede. Workplace Perception and Attitude Towards People Living with HIV/AIDS of Persons in Senior Administrative Positions in Public Universities in Nigeria. Eur. J. Prev. Med. 2015, 3(6), 172-179. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12

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    AMA Style

    Mabel Omonigho Akpede, Austin Itohan Ojugo, Gloria Omolegho Omi-Ujuanbi, George Obozokhale Akpede. Workplace Perception and Attitude Towards People Living with HIV/AIDS of Persons in Senior Administrative Positions in Public Universities in Nigeria. Eur J Prev Med. 2015;3(6):172-179. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12,
      author = {Mabel Omonigho Akpede and Austin Itohan Ojugo and Gloria Omolegho Omi-Ujuanbi and George Obozokhale Akpede},
      title = {Workplace Perception and Attitude Towards People Living with HIV/AIDS of Persons in Senior Administrative Positions in Public Universities in Nigeria},
      journal = {European Journal of Preventive Medicine},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6},
      pages = {172-179},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejpm.20150306.12},
      abstract = {Persons in senior administrative positions (SAP) in public universities are an important segment of the workforce, which could play an important role in the control of HIV/AIDS through their impact on the attitude to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) both within and outside the university community. However, there is a gross dearth of information on their perception of HIV/AIDS and the corresponding attitude to PLWHA. This is unlike the profusion of data on the perception of students in tertiary institutions of higher learning. The objective of this study was thus to determine the level of awareness and perception of HIV/AIDS, and the workplace attitude to PLWHA, of persons in SAP in public universities and the association with the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. A self-administered questionnaire, ‘Awareness and Attitude towards PLWHA scale’ was used to elicit responses from 250 persons, representing 91.6% of those eligible, in a cross-sectional survey of Deans of Faculties, Directors and Heads of Departments in two public universities in Edo State, Nigeria. Mean scores and mean percentage responses were compared between groups using Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA. The level of significance was set at P <0.05. The mean (standard deviation, SD) of Respondents with correct answers to the questions on perception was 72.7 (12.8)% on perception of the nature of HIV/AIDS, 45.1 (38.6)% on transmission, 90.9 (7.4)% on diagnosis and 85.8 (10.8)% on perception of its prevention (P = 0.034). The mean (SD) of the responses on general attitude was 96.8 (2.9)% and that on workplace attitude 85.2 (7.5)% (P = 0.036). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean overall scores on perception and attitude in relation to age, gender and religion. We conclude that the perception of HIV/AIDS and workplace attitude to PLWHA among persons in SAP in public universities in Nigeria are quite favourable, except in relation to the transmission of infection. We also conclude that the perception is unrelated to the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. These findings are relevant to the development of HIV/AIDS control messages, particularly those targeted at the reduction of stigmatization and discrimination, important attitudinal problems fueling the transmission of HIV/AIDS in resource-poor countries.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Workplace Perception and Attitude Towards People Living with HIV/AIDS of Persons in Senior Administrative Positions in Public Universities in Nigeria
    AU  - Mabel Omonigho Akpede
    AU  - Austin Itohan Ojugo
    AU  - Gloria Omolegho Omi-Ujuanbi
    AU  - George Obozokhale Akpede
    Y1  - 2015/10/13
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12
    T2  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JF  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JO  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    SP  - 172
    EP  - 179
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8230
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150306.12
    AB  - Persons in senior administrative positions (SAP) in public universities are an important segment of the workforce, which could play an important role in the control of HIV/AIDS through their impact on the attitude to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) both within and outside the university community. However, there is a gross dearth of information on their perception of HIV/AIDS and the corresponding attitude to PLWHA. This is unlike the profusion of data on the perception of students in tertiary institutions of higher learning. The objective of this study was thus to determine the level of awareness and perception of HIV/AIDS, and the workplace attitude to PLWHA, of persons in SAP in public universities and the association with the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. A self-administered questionnaire, ‘Awareness and Attitude towards PLWHA scale’ was used to elicit responses from 250 persons, representing 91.6% of those eligible, in a cross-sectional survey of Deans of Faculties, Directors and Heads of Departments in two public universities in Edo State, Nigeria. Mean scores and mean percentage responses were compared between groups using Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA. The level of significance was set at P <0.05. The mean (standard deviation, SD) of Respondents with correct answers to the questions on perception was 72.7 (12.8)% on perception of the nature of HIV/AIDS, 45.1 (38.6)% on transmission, 90.9 (7.4)% on diagnosis and 85.8 (10.8)% on perception of its prevention (P = 0.034). The mean (SD) of the responses on general attitude was 96.8 (2.9)% and that on workplace attitude 85.2 (7.5)% (P = 0.036). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean overall scores on perception and attitude in relation to age, gender and religion. We conclude that the perception of HIV/AIDS and workplace attitude to PLWHA among persons in SAP in public universities in Nigeria are quite favourable, except in relation to the transmission of infection. We also conclude that the perception is unrelated to the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. These findings are relevant to the development of HIV/AIDS control messages, particularly those targeted at the reduction of stigmatization and discrimination, important attitudinal problems fueling the transmission of HIV/AIDS in resource-poor countries.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Institute of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria

  • Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria

  • Institute of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria

  • Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria

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