Preventing HIV transmission in Mexican youth: Intervention to improve HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes towards use of condoms among adolescents in a Northern border city of Mexico

Background: HIV infection among Mexican youth is of increasing concern, especially in Mexico's northern border region where HIV prevalence is on the rise. Most HIV-positive persons were exposed during adolescence and more than half through sexual transmission. We sought to assess the efficacy of an HIV-prevention intervention among adolescents living in Tijuana, Baja California, México Methods: Between January-June 2009 we evaluated a two-hour HIV-prevention educational intervention (pre/post test) with low-income adolescents enrolled in a health center program in Tijuana. We measured sociodemographic variables, family influence, sexual behavior and pre/post HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes (beliefs and perceptions) towards condom use. We used descriptive statistics (frequencies, mean, crosstabs) and Chi-square compared pre-post measures at significance level p<0.05. Results: A total of 30 adolescents were enrolled in this study, mean of age was 16.7 years (range 15 to 19 years); 46% were born outside Tijuana, more than half (53%) were sexually active; about first time of intercourse, only one third reported having used a condom (31%) and 44% reported having been under the influence of alcohol. Regarding HIV-related knowledge (pre-to-post), we observed a significant improvement in the average percentage of correct answers (79% vs 92%, p<0.001); and also noted improvement in favorable attitude towards condom use (67% vs 100%, p=0.01). Conclusions: The intervention contributed to improved knowledge and perceptions about condom use, which are key to HIV prevention. Evaluation of intervention impact should assess change in condom use, including longer-term follow-up assessments. This HIV-prevention intervention shows promise for further evaluation among Mexican youth.