High School Teenage Girls' knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS in South Africa

The study sought to assess knowledge and awareness regarding high school teenage girls' risks of HIV/AIDS transmission. A non-experimental descriptive design was employed, using a modified structured questionnaire. A total of 109 high school teenage girls aged 15 to 19 were studied. According to the statistics, (84.4%) of the respondents could define HIV/AIDS; (95.4%) had knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission; (70.6%) of them knew that there was no cure for AIDS; (89.9%) knew that HIV could be transmitted within a short time; (63.3%) knew about the factors that increased the risk of HIV transmission in girls; (17.4%) knew that condoms were effective in preventing HIV transmission; (12.8%) could describe an AIDS patient; (10.1%) had knowledge of the window period; (13.8%) knew that girls were more at risk; and (75%) obtained an overall knowledge score above 10 out of 18; and only (25%) scored below 7. There was a significant correlation between knowledge and the factor "with whom do you live?" with a p-value=0.021. Religion had a significant influence, with a p-value=0.021. The interaction of factors "level of education" and "with whom do you live?" had an effect of p=0.042, and "with whom do you live?" and religion had an effect of p-0.046. High school teenage girls had limited knowledge and some misconceptions around HIV/AIDS transmission.