HIV/AIDS-associated beliefs and practices relating to diet and work in southeastern Uganda

To explore beliefs relating to diet,work,and hiv/aids among the busoga of rural southeastern uganda,a cross-sectional survey of 322 adults was conducted in 2007 in mayuge district,uganda. of these adults,56 were hiv-infected,120 had a family member with hiv/aids,and 146 were in households without hivinfected members. more than 74.2% of the adults knew someone with hiv/aids,and more than 90% correctly identified transmission modes and prevention methods of hiv. in total,93.2% believed that a person with hiv should work fewer hours to conserve energy but all the three participant groups reported the same working hours. also,91.6% believed that a person with hiv infection should eat special nutritious foods,and the participants with hiv infection reported eating more fruits (p=0.020) and vegetables (p=0.012) than other participants. the participants expressed a consistent set of health beliefs about practices relating to hiv/aids. © international centre for diarrhoeal disease research,bangladesh.