Effect of mass media on comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its spatial distribution among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia: a spatial and multilevel analysis

BACKGROUND: Globally, HIV/AIDS remains a significant public health issue particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Media exposure plays a significant role in raising community knowledge about HIV. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of media on comprehensive knowledge of HIV and its spatial distribution among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia. METHODS: A secondary data analysis was done based on the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys (EDHS). A total weighted sample of 15,683 reproductive-age women was included for analysis. For the spatial analysis, ArcGIS version 10.3 and SaTScan version 9.6 software were employed to explore the spatial distribution of comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS and for identifying significant hotspot areas. For associated factors, the mixed-effect logistic regression model was fitted. Deviance and ICC were used for model comparison. In the multivariable analysis, Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was reported to declare significantly associated factors of comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS. RESULTS: The spatial analysis revealed that the spatial distribution of comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS among reproductive-age women was significantly varied across the country. The SaTScan analysis identified significant clusters in the entire Somali region, the eastern part of Dire Dawa and Harari regions. Being rural (AOR = 1.52,95% CI:1.21–1.91), maternal age 25–34 years (AOR = 1.26,95% CI:1.14–1.40), aged ≥35 years (AOR = 1.20,95%CI:1.07–1.35), being Muslim (AOR = 0.68,95% CI:0.60–0.78), being protestant (AOR = 0.83,95% CI:0.71–0.96), poorer wealth (AOR = 1.26,95%CI:1.06–1.51), middle wealth (AOR = 1.34,95%CI:1.11–1.60), richer wealth (AOR = 1.36,95% CI:1.12–1.63), richest wealth (AOR = 1.72,95% CI:1.37–2.15), reading newspaper (AOR = 1.20,95%CI: 1.06–1.37), listening radio (AOR = 1.24,95% CI:1.10, 1.41), covered by health insurance (AOR = 1.23,95%CI:1.01–1.51), having primary education (AOR = 1.77,95% CI:1.57–1.99), having secondary education (AOR = 2.45,95%CI:2.10–2.86) and having higher education (AOR = 3.04,95%CI:2.52–3.65) were significantly associated with comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS. CONCLUSION: Spatial distribution of comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS among reproductive-age women was significantly varied across the country with significant hotspot areas with poor comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS identified in the Somali region, the eastern part of Dire Dawa and Harari Regions. media exposure was a significant predictor of comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia. Therefore, the government should scale up public health programs in the hot spot areas and provide health information using different media.