Beliefs and Attitudes of Medical Students from Public and Private Universities in Malaysia towards Individuals with HIV/AIDS
Table 3
Public and private medical students’ beliefs regarding testing, confidentiality, disclosure, and environment of care towards PLHWA.
Items
Public*
Private*
value#
1
2
3
4
5
mean
1
2
3
4
5
mean
(1) There are circumstances where it is appropriate to test a patient for HIV/AIDS without the patient’s knowledge or permission
23
88
64
121
82
3.40
51
138
103
176
174
3.44
0.604
(2) All healthcare workers should be routinely tested for HIV/AIDS
101
176
61
34
6
2.12
208
262
93
64
15
2.09
0.631
(3) HIV/AIDS testing should be routinely performed as part of the admission process for all patients
31
85
107
122
33
3.11
92
172
154
160
64
2.89
0.005
(4) Relatives of patients with HIV/AIDS should be notified of the patient’s HIV status, even without the patient's permission
27
75
56
149
71
3.43
61
121
102
179
179
3.46
0.724
(5) Sexual partners of patients with HIV/AIDS should be notified of the patient’s status, even without the patient's permission
107
172
37
46
16
2.19
197
233
72
84
56
2.33
0.068
(6) Health care personnel have the responsibility to inform a spouse/partner or boyfriend/girlfriend of the patient’s HIV status
73
190
53
53
9
2.30
167
270
110
61
34
2.26
0.576
(7) The rooms/beds of patients with HIV/AIDS should be clearly marked so hospital workers will know the patient’s status
42
90
76
123
47
3.11
102
151
131
164
94
3.00
0.153
(8) The charts of patients with HIV/AIDS should be clearly marked so clinic/hospital workers will know the patient’s status
64
171
66
52
25
2.48
136
272
108
82
42
2.41
0.338
*Number of respondents under each category of the Likert scale: 1: strongly agree; 2: agree; 3: neutral; 4: disagree; 5: strongly disagree.
# value derived from comparison of means between public and private medical students; 95% confidence interval.
