RESUMEN
In the national seminar of AIDS and Anesthesia which was a short course educational program in all aspects of HIV medicine, 195 questionnaires about knowledge, attitude and practice concerning HIV were distributed among the participants (anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists) in 3 periods, pretest, post test (at the end of 2 days seminar) and post test 2 (at 4 months after the seminar). There were 177 (90.76%) respondents who completed both pretest and post test 1 questionnaires. About 12 questions of knowledge; mean scores were statistically significantly increased; 7.95 (0.98) vs 9.5 (0.78), P < 0.001. Two thirds (8 out of 12 questions) were answered correctly in post test 1 more than in the pretest by Mc Nemar Chi-square test; P < 0.05. About attitude; 2 out of 5 answers changed significantly by Mc Nemar Chi-square test; P < 0.05. The post test 2 questionnaires were mailed to all 177 participants twice asking to reply only once. All questionnaires were to be completed anonymously. The post test 2 with a response rate of 65.5 per cent revealed that universal precautions were frequently used among Thai anesthesia personnel but not universally followed. At least one-third of the respondents admitted recapping before disposal of used needles. Fifty six per cent of respondents (vs 22.8% in pretest) admitted re-using one syringe for more than one patient. In conclusion, this study showed that a short course educational program may improve knowledge about HIV and partly change attitude, but can not change behaviour. Changing the practice of anesthesia health care workers needs continual education and appropriate training.