Fatalism and HIV/AIDS Beliefs in Rural Mali, West Africa

PURPOSE: To examine beliefs about HIV/AIDS of rural Malians and to measure their level of fatalism in context of HIV/AIDS and prevention behaviors. DESIGN: Descriptive, correlational. METHODS: An AIDS Knowledge and Beliefs survey and the Powe Fatalism Inventory (PFI)-HIV/AIDS version were administered to a convenience sample of 84 people at three health center maternity clinics in southeastern Mali, West Africa. FINDINGS: The sample's HIV/AIDS fatalism mean was 9.2 on a 15-point scale, with an internal consistency of .89. Health workers and more educated participants had significantly lower fatalism scores. Fatalism also varied by the combination of gender and ethnicity. People who believed that AIDS was not real, was a punishment from God, was fabricated by the West, was a curse, and that it was taboo to talk about AIDS had higher fatalism means. None of the prevention indicators were significantly related to fatalism scores. CONCLUSIONS: These rural Malians had a high overall fatalism mean and their beliefs about AIDS based on traditional culture may affect prevention behaviors. More research is needed to understand the influence of fatalism on prevention behaviors.