The Role of Health Belief Model in HIV Screening Decision among International Students in the United States: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objectives: We sought to determine how the Health Belief Model (HBM) constructs relate to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) screening decisions among international students and which of the HBM constructs was most relevant in those screening decisions. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional pilot study using an online survey of international students at Western Illinois University in the United States. Participants signed electronic informed consent. The online survey comprised of questions that assessed their sociodemographic characteristics, acceptance of HIV screening, and perceived knowledge of HIV. The survey also determined the role of perceived benefits, perceived threat, and cues to action in making HIV screening decisions among the study population. Results: Four hundred and ninety students were invited to participate in the survey out of which 185 responses were obtained. In all, 107(57.8%) were males, and 78(42.8%) were females. Most of the respondents were from Asia (64.9%) and Africa (24.9%). The prevalence of acceptance of HIV screening among international students was found to be 73.5%. About 90% of the participants perceived HIV screening to be beneficial to their health, and 76% of them would accept the screening because they were offered. The majority (83%) of participants who said that they would not accept HIV screening, were also not sexually active, and they did not think they could be susceptible to HIV. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Perceived benefits and cues to action were found to be the significant factors that informed the decision of people who accepted to be screened for HIV. Perceived susceptibility informed the decision of those that rejected the screening. Caution is warranted in generalizing the findings from this study because of the limited sample size; however, we are confident that our findings are reproducible in a larger population context.