HIV and AIDS prevention behavior among housewives in South Purwokerto sub-district, Indonesia

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a health problem associated with risky behavior.In Indonesia, AIDS cumulative cases from 1987 to September 2014 showed housewives as the highest number of AIDS cases among other type of occupations, with 6,539 cases (21.4%).South Purwokerto is a sub-district in Banyumas District, Central Java, Indonesia, with sexually transmitted infection (STI) cases as many as 45 people. Material and methods:In this quantitative cross-sectional study, health belief model (HBM) was employed to determine individual acceptance in conducting HIV and AIDS prevention behavior.A total of a 100 housewives from South Purwokerto sub-district were included using proportional random sampling technique.Data were collected through interview using questionnaires, and analyzed with c 2 test. Results:The results showed that most respondents (51%) perceived themselves as vulnerable to HIV infection, 52% described HIV as an emergency disease, 65% reported that HIV prevention is not helpful, 71% stated that there are no barriers to HIV prevention, 62% had a positive belief on HIV prevention, and 65% of women had a cue to act in preventing HIV transmission.HIV and AIDS good prevention behavior was seen in 56% of respondents.There is a relationship between cue to act and prevention of HIV transmission, and no connection between perception of vulnerability, urgency, benefits, barriers, and beliefs with HIV and AIDS prevention behavior as dependent variable. Conclusions:The results of this study show that there is a relationship between the cue to act in preventing HIV/AIDS and the prevention behavior, while there is no relationship between the acceptance of vulnerability, emergency, benefits, barriers, and beliefs with the HIV and AIDS prevention behavior as dependent variable.