Knowledge and beliefs about HIV/AIDS among women using barrier and natural methods: an analysis in urban and rural areas.

Objective: To analyze the knowledge and beliefs about HIV/AIDS in women users of barrier and natural methods in urban and rural areas of Peru. Methods: Cross-sectional analytical study that analyzed the registry of 4926 and 2273 urban and rural women, respectively, who participated in a national survey in 2021. Frequencies and percentages weighted with 95% confidence intervals were estimated; and the chi-square test was calculated with a significance level less than 0.05. Results: In rural areas, the majority of women were users of natural methods (73.6%), while in urban areas, there was less ignorance about HIV/AIDS infection status (11.4%). The proportion of women with inadequate beliefs about HIV was significantly higher in rural areas compared to urban areas (p < 0.001). A higher percentage of barrier method users living in both urban (12.6%) and rural (25.1%) areas were unaware of HIV/AIDS-related issues. Conclusion: In rural areas there is a higher percentage of lack of knowledge and erroneous beliefs about HIV/AIDS. The use of barrier methods was higher in urban areas and natural methods in rural areas. Knowledge and appropriate beliefs were mostly present in users of barrier methods in both rural and urban areas.