Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between educational level and time of decline to AIDS mortality. A total of 1578 death certificates were matched and processed with reported Louisiana male AIDS cases to assess the relation between decline to AIDS mortality with educational background, age, race, and transmission group. A 2 (race)X4 (age group)X2 (transmission group)X3 (educational background) ANOVA was performed. In addition, descriptive statistics were utilized to show patterns of the association. A significant (P<0.05) main effect of educational background on decline to death was found. However, inconsistent educational level effect on mortality was found across different subgroups regarding race and AIDS transmission group. Those with higher educational levels demonstrated least severity of decline to death. Furthermore, a significant 3-way interaction in the well-educated black intravenous drug user (IDU) population suggests a call to expand current models of counselling for this clientele.