This systematic review critically synthesizes the literature focusing on factors related to preconception health behaviors (PCHBs) among childbearing age women in the United States, developed countries, and developing countries. Ovid Medline and CINAHL databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 1998 and 2008 relating to…

Studies at the individual level have shown a negative effect of education and intelligence on risky behavior. The same has been demonstrated for risky sexual behavior and for HIV-infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa. In path analyses at the country data level, cognitive abilities (seen as depending on education) show a strong negative effect on…

The pivotal issue in today's world talks about HIV/AIDS transmission, it is also understood by virtue that almost every one has the knowledge of the disease and are aware how it is transmitted to others. Despite such understanding, the numbers of infected people are increasing everyday in all part of the world. The drastic scenario of developing…

This review systematically examined the effectiveness of 24 mass media interventions on changing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. The intervention studies were published from 1990 through 2004, reported data from developing countries and compared outcomes using (i) pre- and post-intervention data, (ii)…

Objectives: This study documents the extent and impact of perceived patterns of behavior in a sample of youths of the streets of Ibadan, Nigeria, with the purpose of implementing a Life Skills Educational (LSE) intervention. Method: The study uses both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Qualitatively, two Focus Group…

Describes an AIDS prevention project of the Islamic Medical Association of Uganda, discussing how it was influenced by information from a baseline survey and how it was implemented. A followup evaluation study that assessed the community-level impact indicated that the intense community education effort, which used religious leaders and lay…

Research was undertaken to assess the role of primary school teachers with regard to the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were responded to by 210 teachers drawn from primary schools in Eastern Nigeria (with pupils aged 6-15 years). These were supplemented by focus group discussions and…

HIV/AIDS programmes in schools ultimately intend to decrease high risk sexual behaviour. One factor facilitating this outcome is a strong health promoting environment in the school. This paper reports a study surveying the health promoting environments supporting HIV/AIDS education in Namibian senior secondary schools. It develops a…