ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nowadays, as public awareness of t,he Acquired immunedeficiency syndrome(AIDS) epidemic was increasing, athletes have become more concerned about their risk of infection with human immunedeficiency virus(HIV) since it, was announced that Magic Johnson, hero of basketball in the United States, was infected. Because there are no exact cure method about AIDS, the only treatment is prevention through the education and awareness of AIDS. Therefore, we researched the athletes knowledge of AIDS to provide the b#asis of preventive methods. METHODS: A questionnaire was given directly to the 110 wrestling and taekwondo athletes attending a sports college. RESULT: Athletes are all men and their mean age is 24.6 years old. Concerning the question of latent period, 54.5% had correct answer that AIDS development took more than several years after HIV infection. The person who had educated about the preventive methods of infection during the sports was 4.6%. The person who answered AIDS athletes should be excluded from the sports was 64.5% and the reason of exclusion was the risk of infection through the small bleeding(49.8%), sweating(38.0%), and simple skin cont,acts(19. 7%) during the sports. The correct recognition rate of preventive method of infection during the sports was 51.8 to 62%. Concerning the risk routes and behaviors of infection during daily life, most of them recognized correctly(from 76,3% to 99.0% by each item), but some have also misconception about transfusion(61.0%), skin contact(33%) and mosquitos bite(30%) etc. CONCLUSION: Almost all of athletes recognized correctly the risky behavior of sex and blood in transmission of infection, but some have also misconception in daily activities, e.g. transfusion and mosquitos. Many persons answered AIDS infected athletes should be excluded from the sports and they didnt receive any education about preventive methods of AIDS infection during the sports. The knowledge of preventive methods of infection recommended during the sports was relatively high.