ABSTRACT
According to the recent changing pattern of HIV transmission from shard needle among addicts to unprotected sex in Iran and considering the importance of education in health issues, we conducted this study to assess the knowledge of military service personnel regarding HIV/AIDS and the impact of education on it. In an Army Land force Unit, 232 individuals' knowledge have been evaluated before and after an one-hour-length tutorial session using hand-out questionnaires. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS 16 software. Television and school/university courses had the highest and family the lowest impact on the knowledge of enrolled people [48.3%, 13.8% and 0.9%, respectively]. In addition, the level of their knowledge has been increased from 87.3% [SD 8.7 to 79.2% [SD 13.8] which showed a significant difference [P<0.01]. Face to face education maximizes the knowledge of military service staff and can be effectively used during this period to avoid further complications. Moreover, courses are mandatory in television and family programs to control the alarming rise of HIV infections