Comprehensive Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors, and Associated Factors of HIV/AIDS in Gondar City Public Health Facilities Among HIV Testing and Counselling Service Users, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022; an Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis [Letter]

Dear editor

We were very impressed with the article entitled “Comprehensive Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors, and Associated Factors of HIV/AIDS in Gondar City Public Health Facilities Among HIV Testing and Counselling Service Users, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022; an Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis”. The results of this research have advantages, namely: 1) This study was conducted in Gondar City, in the northwestern region of Ethiopia. This location may not have been the focus of much HIV/AIDS-related research, thus providing new insights into the HIV/AIDS situation in the region, 2) Collecting data on HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, thus providing a more complete understanding of the factors affecting people’s understanding of HIV/AIDS, 3) Focusing on HIV testing and counseling service users, who may have different characteristics and information needs compared to the general population, 4) The use of ordinal logistic regression analysis method to evaluate factors associated with knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to HIV/AIDS, is an analytical approach that has not been widely used in the context of HIV/AIDS research in the region.¹

However, we have also discovered several limitations that need to be corrected in the future, namely: 1) This study only included users of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) services in public health facilities in Gondar City. This may limit the representation of the wider population, such as individuals who do not use HTC services or who use services in private health facilities, 2) The use of questionnaires to collect data may have limitations in terms of accuracy and honesty of responses from participants. In addition, this study did not conduct an exploratory factor analysis of the questionnaires used, 3) Although this study noted that media had a significant influence on knowledge about HIV/AIDS, this study did not explore the type of media or media content that was most effective in disseminating information about HIV/AIDS, 4) Although the study used ordinal logistic regression analysis, it was not mentioned whether this study considered potential factors, it was not mentioned whether the study considered other potential factors that might influence knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to HIV/AIDS, such as social, economic, or cultural factors, 5) This study only involved public health facilities in Gondar City, so it did not include private health facilities or facilities in other regions that might have different characteristics.

To obtain better results, we recommend that further research be carried out by 1) Conduct in-depth interviews, direct observation or qualitative studies to gain a deeper understanding of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among individuals who use health services and those who do not use such services, 2) Expand the scope of the study to include a wider population, including individuals in rural areas, private health facilities, and special groups such as adolescents,² women, or other vulnerable groups, 3) Expand the analysis to consider social, economic, and cultural factors that may influence HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, as well as consider interactions between these variables,³ 4) Include more specific policy recommendations based on the research findings, such as intervention strategies that can be implemented to improve HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in the community.

In conclusion, this study makes a significant contribution to understanding the factors that influence HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among health service users, and provides a basis for designing more effective intervention strategies to improve understanding and healthy behaviors related to HIV/AIDS in the community.