Participation in Student Group with Awareness of Aids and Drugs (Kspan) Associated with Knowledge of HIV & AIDS among Junior High School Students in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

Introduction: Adolescents are very susceptible to HIV transmission. Junior high school students, in particular, should be equipped with HIV & AIDS information in order to avoid risky sexual behavior. Kelompok Siswa Peduli AIDS dan Narkoba (Student Group with Awareness of AIDS and Drugs)-KSPAN is one of the student organizations established in schools in Bali to help provide more comprehensive information about HIV & AIDS, including how to prevent HIV transmission. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of participation in KSPAN with the knowledge of HIV & AIDS among junior high school students in Denpasar, Bali.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study using secondary data from Kisara IPPA Bali Chapter. Descriptive analysis was used to present the proportion of the students’ participation in KSPAN and knowledge about HIV & AIDS. Chi-square analysis was applied to identify the relationship.

Results: More than half of juniorhigh school students had sufficient knowledge of HIV & AIDS (59.8%) and most of them participated in KSPAN (81.5%). Moreover, the proportion of students with sufficient knowledge on HIV & AIDS was higher among those who participated in KSPAN compared to who did not (67.2% vs 27.0%) The result of bivariate analysis using Chi-square test showed that participating in KSPAN was associated with having sufficient knowledge of HIV & AIDS (p-value <0.001).

Conclusion: Participating in KSPAN had a positive impact on knowledge on HIV & AIDS since students were provided with comprehensive information on HIV & AIDS. Therefore, increasing the participation of students in this organization is essential to expand the HIV & AIDS information.